Persona: Defiance of Fate
by Solid Shark
Summary: In the deepest night, there is the Dark Hour. It began ten years ago; now, the players have assembled according to the Arcana, and with the arrival of Port Island's prodigal son, it will soon end. They have been given one year... Novelization of Persona 3
1. Chapter I: Suicide Is Painless

_Time never waits._

_It delivers all equally… to the same end…_

_You, who wish to safeguard the future,_

_However limited it may be…_

_You will be given one year;_

_Go forth without falter,_

_With your heart as your guide…_

* * *

Monday, April 6th, 2009, Afternoon

* * *

It was noisy. People everywhere, a hundred conversations all around him. Outdoor shops, street entertainers, and hundreds of ordinary pedestrians. A typical day, on the path to the monorail station in Tatsumi Port Island.

He paid no attention. For him, it might as well not have existed.

There was nothing extraordinary about the young man in the black school uniform. Not at first glance, anyway. In this day and age, even his dark blue hair attracted no comment, nor his cool gray eyes; and if it had, he still wouldn't have noticed.

Making his way through the crowds, a duffel bag over his right shoulder and a walking stick resting easily on his left, the youth was lost in the music in his headphones, and the memories of days gone by.

_Iwatodai,_ he mused to himself, letting the music insulate him from the world. _It's been… Man. Has it really been ten years? Time sure flies… Guess I'll have to visit the Moonlight Bridge while I'm here._

Ten years… ten years since his parents died in a car crash, leaving the youth amnesiac about the entire event. Now, after living with other relatives for so long, he was coming back. He couldn't quite say exactly what impelled him to return, but it seemed like the right path to take in life.

_Can't forget to write home, though,_ he reminded himself with a small smile. _Naoto was hard enough to placate just for leaving; if I forget to keep in touch, she'll kill me…_

Nearing the monorail station, he glanced up at the sky. _Whoops; didn't realize the time. Guess I'll be getting to the dorm pretty late._ He shrugged; no help for it now.

Stepping into the station, though, he couldn't help but feel that this trip wasn't going to be quite what he expected. Iwatodai… a place of beginnings and endings, in a sense. Born there, his parents had died there, and now he was going be completing his high school education there.

_What the hell,_ he reasoned. _It's as good a place as any to start something new._

* * *

Late Night

* * *

_Yep,_ the blue-haired teen thought, over two hours later. _I'm late. …Do trains run on time _anywhere_ in the world?_

Had his music not still been playing, he might've heard the voice over the PA system. _**"We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay…"**_

Even if he had, though, he wouldn't have cared much. He was tired, it was almost midnight, and he just wanted to get to the dorm and get some sleep. It'd been a long day, and he did have his first day at a new school the next morning.

"_**Iwatodai, Iwatodai,"**_the PA system droned, as he stepped out into the station. _**"This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please make sure you board in time for departure…"**_

The youth paused on the platform, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a note. His headphones blocked out the noise of the crowd -substantial even at this hour- and now was as good a time as any to reconfirm the dorm's location. The last thing he wanted was to get lost at midnight. _Let's see… it was…_

"_**Iwatodai, Iwa-"**_

The clock struck midnight.

His music died… and so did everything else.

"Huh?" He twitched in surprise, realizing his MP3 player wasn't the only thing that had suddenly shut off. The clock above the platform was frozen at midnight, the monorail had fallen completely silent, and even the lights had gone out, leaving the station lit by an otherworldly glow.

It was about then that he realized the crowd had gone silent, too, and he turned his attention to his fellow human beings at last.

Or tried to.

"What the…?" he breathed. "What the hell is _this…?"_

He wasn't surrounded by people anymore. In their place, there stood dozens, perhaps hundreds of red-tinted black coffins. In the surreal lighting that now enveloped him, it somehow seemed even creepier. Not that it _could_ get much creepier than people transforming into coffins in the middle of a bizarre blackout.

Tentatively taking a step forward, it also occurred to him to wonder why _he_ hadn't transformed, too. And what was going to happen if he was the _only_ person around still mobile.

He hesitated a moment longer… then sighed. _Naoto would be looking for clues already, and telling me to get moving. Fine… might as well head for the dorm, and worry about what to do next then._

Walking out of the station, he discovered he was wrong: it _could_ get creepier than humans transforming into coffins in the middle of a blackout. Just to start, the moon seemed much larger than it should, and was glowing an eerie yellow.

Even worse was that all the water he could see had transfigured into blood. _And as creepy as this is already, it's probably human._

He shivered, but figured his first idea had been right: there was no sense just standing around doing nothing.

He did, however, shift his walking stick to his right hand, before resuming the -hopefully short- walk to the dorm.

* * *

Without a functioning watch, the youth couldn't tell exactly how much time had passed, but he estimated it to be nearly an hour before he finally found himself in front of the dormitory. In the strange green light that now bathed the world, the building seemed ominous, imposing… The fact that he was standing in a puddle of water-turned-blood didn't help the impression.

The trip probably hadn't _needed_ to take so long, he mused, looking up at the dorm's entrance. It wasn't truly that far from the monorail station… but then he hadn't exactly been moving very fast, either. Being on the lookout for eldritch threats tended to slow one's pace.

Shrugging, the youth adjusted his bag, shifted his grip on his walking stick, and climbed the handful of stairs to the double doors leading in.

Gently swinging one of the doors open, he paused just inside, took off his headphones, and glanced warily around. The dorm's lobby seemed normal enough; a reception desk off to his left, a common area to his right, and a dining area straight ahead. Entirely normal, about what he'd been expecting.

The strange thing was that, unlike everything he'd seen since leaving the train, the lights were on here. His MP3 player was still silent, his watch still dead, but somehow this place was still functioning.

"You're late."

The youth twitched, startled. Behind the reception desk, there now stood a young boy, watching him; the first person he'd seen since the world turned strange. More confusingly, the boy was suddenly right in front of him, with no apparent transition, holding what the youth presumed to be the dorm's register.

"I've been waiting for a long while," the boy went on, gesturing with the paper. "Please sign here."

The youth took it warily, and noted with indefinable unease that it was not, after all, any kind of sign-in sheet, but rather some sort of contract. "…What's this?"

"Don't worry," the boy said. "All it says is that you take full responsibility for your actions. You know… the usual stuff."

_Actually, I don't,_ the youth thought. _But… it seems harmless enough. I'll ask about it later._ Setting down his duffel bag, he tucked his walking stick under one arm, pulled a pen from his pocket, and bent to the task.

_Arisato, Minato,_ he wrote neatly, and handed the sheet back to the boy.

"Thank you," the boy said… and promptly added to Minato's sense of unreality by making the paper disappear into thin air. "I'll trust you to remember this… and one more thing: no one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." He smiled. "And so it begins…"

Eerily, the boy seemed to fade even as he spoke, darkness enveloping him. When his last sentence finished, so did his disappearing act.

And with his disappearance, the dorm was suddenly shrouded in the same eerie green light as everywhere else.

_Okay, this is officially disturbing,_ Minato thought. _Either I'm asleep, or something is _profoundly_ wrong here. And I don't think I'm lying in bed right now…_

"Who's there?!"

Minato's gaze snapped away from where the boy had disappeared, and his eyes widened. Near the stairs leading to the upper floors of the dorm stood a girl, looking about his age, wearing a school uniform. He took only peripheral note of her brown hair and eyes; he was more concerned with the frightened look on her face.

And the fact that her hand was hovering near what looked very much like a holstered pistol.

Startled gray eyes met frightened brown, and Minato released his walking stick from under his arm, catching it in one hand; breathing fast and uneven, the girl simultaneously took hold of the pistol, starting to draw it from its holster-

"Takeba, wait!"

The girl -Takeba?- spun, and Minato's eyes focused over her shoulder. Standing there now was a redhead, wearing a uniform different from the first girl's but similar enough to be from the same school; and like the brunette, she wore a holstered pistol at her waist, and a red armband reading "SEES". Unlike the brunette, she looked quite calm, a fact which relieved Minato immensely.

Almost getting shot was not quite what he'd expected of his first night at his new dorm, even with all the insanity that had already occurred.

The brunette, though visibly calmed by the other's arrival, remained tense a moment longer… and then the strange green light passed away. Normal lighting returned, Minato's MP3 player came back to life, and the tension drained out of the room.

_That's why she was freaked out,_ Minato realized. _Same reason she startled me: I wasn't in a coffin like everyone else. Which means they know something about what just happened… Okay, Minato, let's play it cool, like always._

Straightening from the half-crouch he'd fallen into, Minato flipped his grip on his walking stick, placing its tip on the floor. "Sorry if I startled anyone," he offered.

"That's all right," the redhead told him, smiling faintly. "We just didn't expect you to arrive so late, that's all. The train was delayed?"

"As usual," he agreed.

"I'm not surprised." She folded her arms. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students who live in this dorm."

"…Who's he?" the brunette asked, face toward Mitsuru but glance turned sidelong at Minato.

"Minato Arisato," he said, bowing slightly. "I'm a transfer student, just in from Nishinomiya."

Mitsuru nodded in confirmation. "Right. It was a last minute decision to assign him here; he'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."

_I'm surprised I wasn't already. Full, notice of my arrival came late, or something else?_

The younger girl's eyes turned back to her upperclassman. "…It is really okay from him to be here?" Her tone was… odd, not quite what Minato would've expected, taking the question itself at face value.

_Something else,_ he decided. _This is obviously a coed dorm, or I wouldn't be here in the first place. Which means she's nervous about something I don't know about yet… maybe something related to them being active during that bizarre hour, and why they were surprised I was, too?_

"I guess we'll see," Mitsuru murmured, thoughtful look helping to confirm Minato's suspicions. She turned her full attention back to Minato himself. "This is Yukari Takeba," she explained, gesturing at the brunette. "She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

"…Hey," Yukari offered, still looking a little off-balance but far more relaxed than just a few moments before.

Minato considered asking the obvious -why would a high school student be carrying a gun, and why had she almost shot him with it- but quickly discarded the notion. Sometimes there were better ways of obtaining information than the obvious.

"Nice to meet you," he said instead, offering a small smile.

"Uh, y-yeah." Yukari returned the smile, visibly regaining equilibrium. "Nice to meet you, too."

Introductions taken care of without any casualties, Mitsuru gestured toward the stairway. "It's getting late," she said, understating the matter in Minato's opinion. "You should get some rest. Your room's on the second floor, at the end of the hall. Your things should already be there."

"I'll show you the way," Yukari offered, smile much more natural now. "Follow me."

"Thanks." Minato shifted his walking stick back to his left hand, picked up his duffel bag, and followed the other student up the stairs to the first floor of actual dorm rooms.

Glancing unobtrusively about along the way, Minato noted there seemed to be a dearth of occupied rooms, which only added to his puzzlement about the situation. Gekkoukan High School presumably had a normal compliment of students, given that this wasn't exactly a small town… Yet if his suspicions were correct, this dorm wasn't even half full.

_There's _definitely_ something weird going on here. I wonder if it has anything to do with the club those two belong to? SEES… I'll have to look that up tomorrow. Discretely._

"Here we are," Yukari announced, stopping beside the last room on the right side of the hall. "Pretty easy to remember, right? Right at the end of the hall, and all." She winced. "Oh, and by the way… _Don't_ lose your key. You'll _never_ hear the end of it."

From the look on her face, Minato suspected she knew that from experience.

"So, any questions?"

Minato could think of several, given how utterly bizarre the evening had been, but decided on only one of them. "I was wondering if that kid lived here, too," he said casually.

Yukari blinked. "…What kid?"

_Well, that pretty much confirms that contract had nothing to do with signing into the dorm. Hm… that makes _two_ things to confuse me already._

"Never mind," Minato said, shaking his head. "Just my imagination… Was there anything else?"

She hesitated. "Actually… On your way from the station, was everything all right? You didn't run into problems?"

_Aside from all electronics shutting off, the moon turning yellow, people turning into coffins, and, oh yeah, water transmuting into blood?_ "Everything was just fine," he told her. It was even the truth, after a fashion; weird as that hour had been, he'd still made it to the dorm without a hitch.

Pursing her lips, obviously unconvinced, Yukari nonetheless seemed to accept it. "That's good, then. Um… I should get going; we both need our sleep for tomorrow, I think. First day of school and everything… Good night!"

"Good night," he returned, and stepped into his new room while she headed down the hall, presumably to her own room.

Closing the door behind him, Minato set his duffel bag down near the boxes containing his other possessions, and leaned his walking stick against the room's desk. Deciding to unpack after school the next day, he walked over to the bed and gratefully sat down, suddenly exhausted.

Despite his weariness, he smiled. _I thought this was going to be just another year of school, boring as ever… Instead, the first night I'm here, the world goes haywire and I meet two very… odd fellow students, plus some kid they don't seem to know is here. Not a bad start, not at all._

There were at least two mysteries in Tatsumi Port Island. And Minato Arisato _liked_ mysteries.

* * *

Yukari Takeba did _not_ like mysteries.

She also did not, as Minato had anticipated, head straight for her own room. Instead, she made for a higher floor, where Mitsuru was waiting in a room with a wall of monitors. When she arrived, her senpai was just unbuckling her gunbelt, the evening's danger having passed.

"He's tucked in for the night?" Mitsuru asked without preamble.

"Yeah," Yukari confirmed, moving to sit on of the nearby chairs with a relieved sigh. "That, um… wasn't quite what I was expecting, Senpai. I assume he was assigned here on purpose?"

"Mm," the other affirmed. "Though I wasn't expecting that, either. It was one thing for him to possibly have the potential; for him to just walk in here during the Dark Hour… He's the first potential user I've seen do something like that." Mitsuru glanced at Yukari's holster. "I don't blame you for reacting like that."

Yukari shivered. "I just… didn't expect something like that. The only other people I'm used to seeing around during the Dark Hour are the Chairman and Akihiko-senpai; for the new guy to just walk in in the middle of it like there was nothing wrong?" She shook her head. "I thought at first he was some kind of weird Shadow or something."

"Mm." Mitsuru slid into one of the seats in front of the wall of screens. "I don't blame you, but it's a good thing I arrived when I did. Things might've gotten ugly, from the way he was reacting."

"Huh?" Yukari looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean, Senpai? I mean, yeah, my using the Evoker would've been bad, but…"

"That's not a walking stick he was carrying," the redhead said quietly. "Did you see the way he shifted his grip on it when you almost drew on him?"

Yukari thought back. Now that Mitsuru mentioned it… Rather than trying to run, or plead, or any other reaction she might've considered normal, Arisato had stood his ground, and done… something with the stick he was carrying, almost too fast for Yukari to follow.

"Arisato has had some kind of training," Mitsuru went on, seeing Yukari's dawning understanding. "With a sword, if I'm not mistaken; from the way he was holding it, my guess is that his 'walking stick' is actually a bokken, made in that shape to avoid drawing attention. And judging from how smooth his actions were, he's had a _lot_ of practice with it."

Yukari's eyebrows went up. "That's… weird. How many people really know how to use a _sword_ in this day and age?" When Mitsuru raised an eyebrow her own, the brunette flushed, but persisted. "Besides you, Senpai. You're into fencing, not kendo; and what I mean is, how many people are so into it that they actually put it to practical use?"

"Not many," her senpai conceded. "Which makes this all the more interesting." She glanced up at one of the monitors… showing Minato Arisato asleep in his bed, apparently completely untroubled by the evening's strangeness. "His background check was clean, so I'm not worried. It may just make him all the more suitable for SEES."

The younger girl couldn't deny that. She herself had had nothing to offer SEES when she first joined save for the basic potential the group required; even now, she was very much a novice with her style of choice. Given Mitsuru's own duties, that meant only one member of the team was truly ready for operations.

Adding someone who not only seemed largely unaffected by the Dark Hour but was also evidently skilled in more prosaic fighting as well… Yukari knew that would be a priceless asset.

_If_ Arisato agreed to help, when they got around to asking him. And if he didn't flip out on learning they'd been spying on him in his sleep.

Speaking of which…

"You should get some sleep, Takeba," Mitsuru advised, picking up on her weariness. "The new term starts tomorrow, so we should all get some rest."

Yukari nodded gratefully. "Okay… See you tomorrow, Senpai." Suddenly aware of just how much the night had taken out of her, Yukari hauled herself out of the chair and made her way to her own dorm room at last.

* * *

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Despite the lateness of his arrival the previous night -and the sheer _weirdness_ of it- Minato was feeling reasonably well-rested. Taking things in stride and not panicking, he decided, had been just the way to go; looking and thinking like a zombie on the first day of school wouldn't have been a good thing.

Especially his first day at a _new_ school.

Now Minato stood by one of the windows in the monorail car leading to Port Island proper, Yukari to his left. As usual, the crowding was a nuisance, but one he could tune out. In Japan, you got used to crowds or you lost your mind… and he had other things on his mind. _Should I be feeling nostalgic?_ he wondered, gazing out at the waters around Port Island. _Ten years… it's hard to believe I was ever here at all._

"There it is," Yukari said, breaking into his reverie. She pointed out the window, drawing Minato's attention to the island coming into view as the monorail sped around a curve. He leaned closer, interested in seeing what had become of his childhood home.

His memories of that time were hazy, partly from time and partly, he thought, from the car crash. Nonetheless, Minato could tell that Port Island had changed a lot in the decade since he'd been there last; its construction barely finished ten years before, there was a thriving shopping district now, and more. The technical dream had become a genuine city.

After ten years, this would again be his home.

Catching sight of the building he realized must be Gekkoukan High School, Minato hummed to himself. _First day of school, and a mystery to investigate… I wonder how things will go?_

* * *

Seeing Gekkoukan up close didn't disappoint. Tatsumi Port Island might be new, but that also meant it was modern, and the high school that would be taking up so much of Minato's time for the foreseeable future looked to be as modern and up to date as the monorail he'd ridden to reach it.

It also made the question of the mostly-empty dormitory even more peculiar, but Minato wasn't about to complain.

He did admit to some minor unease over being the new guy. Anybody would be insecure entering a new student body; it was only natural, even for someone who'd walked through the peculiar green hour of blood and coffins with aplomb. At least he wasn't completely alone…

"Thanks, Yukari," Minato said quietly, inwardly grateful for Mitsuru's foresight in having the other student accompany him for the first day.

"Hm?" Yukari blinked, distracted from greeting a classmate she knew from the previous year, then smiled. "Oh, no problem! I know how it feels to be the new kid on the block. I just transferred here myself last year." She stepped out ahead of him then, just outside the gates of the school. "So, what you do think? Welcome to Gekkoukan High School!"

Somewhat to Minato's surprise, she seemed genuinely pleased, and he smiled in return. "Thanks."

He was still sure something was up, he reflected as he followed the brunette into the school, but he was also getting the feeling it wasn't malicious. Hard to picture someone like Yukari being a violent criminal or something.

_Of course,_ he thought, as they reached the shoe lockers, _I _could_ be wrong. For all the stereotypes about loners, it _does_ seem to be the outgoing ones that you have to worry about. But… it's not likely. She may've been freaked last night, but considering how _weird_ that was, I can't really blame her. Yukari probably just knows more about what's going on than I do._

Tucking her outdoor shoes into a locker and closing it, Yukari turned back to Minato. "You should be able to find your way around from here, right? You seem to be pretty street-smart."

"I can take care of myself," Minato allowed, nodding.

She nodded back. "Okay, then. You should go see your homeroom teacher first, find out what class you're in." She gestured toward the hallway branching off from the left of the school lobby. "The Faculty Office is right over there. First door on your left down that hallway." Yukari turned back, smiling. "And that concludes the tour; you should be able to find everything else easily enough."

"Yeah," Minato agreed. "By the way, what class are you in?"

"Me?" Yukari blinked, momentarily surprised by the question. _Of course,_ she thought, _Mitsuru-senpai and I are the only people he actually _knows_ here, so I guess it makes sense._ "I don't know yet," she admitted with a shrug. "I haven't checked the classroom assignments yet."

"Oh, right…"

_Okay,_ Minato thought to himself. _Find the classroom assignment, get settled in… and do a little discreet research. From the looks of those armbands, "SEES" is some kind of school club, so there ought to be public records of it I can check without anybody noticing. And… I think I'll check the shopping district after school, see what I can find with watches…_

"Hey," Yukari said, breaking into his thoughts. Looking up at her again, Minato noticed her expression was more serious now. "About last night… don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?"

He raised an eyebrow. That was the first time the girl had even acknowledged _anything_ odd had happened, beyond asking him if he'd had any trouble getting to the dorm the previous night. If it weren't for the fact that it seemed far too strange for even his imagination, Minato might've almost thought he'd simply dreamt it all.

"I wasn't planning to," he said after a moment's thought, and smiled crookedly. "Besides, who'd believe me?"

Yukari smiled back in visible relief, both at his cooperative response and the casual way he was taking the whole situation. "Okay, then. See ya later!"

Watching the brunette head off, Minato took a moment to look around the lobby, slid his hands into his pockets, and ambled over to the bulletin board standing by a staircase. A number of students were already looking it over, suggesting it had the class assignments.

He was right, he found, edging carefully between other students to get a closer look. Of course, that fact didn't help him if he couldn't find his _own_ name on it… which, at first, he couldn't. About to simply give up and check with the Faculty Office, a second glance brought a small note to his attention. _**Minato Arisato,**_ it said, _**Class 2F.**_

_Well, that's one thing done,_ Minato thought, edging back through the crowd. _Now… the Faculty Office. I hope my homeroom teacher is actually sane this time…_

* * *

Stepping into the Faculty Office, Minato was mildly relieved to find it mostly empty. He had legitimate business there, of course, but he'd known enough oddball teachers over the years to know the meaner ones wouldn't care. Nice to be able to take things slowly while he got a feel for _this_ school's faculty.

Giving the room a quick glance, he saw nothing out of the ordinary -not that he expected anything to be; if anywhere in Tatsumi Port Island was likely to be normal, it was here- and quickly spotted an adult he presumed to be a teacher perusing records off to one side. A thirty-ish brunette, Minato noted she at least _looked_ normal enough. _A good start, at least; I remember that one that had rainbow hair and perpetual sunglasses a few years back…_

The teacher soon noticed him in turn, and quickly came over. "Ah! Would you be the new student? I thought we had a transfer student starting today."

_Thought? …Well, it's a busy school. Probably can't keep track of _all_ the details._

"Right," he confirmed with a polite nod. "Minato Arisato, grade eleven."

The teacher smiled. "That's what I thought." Looking down at the clipboard she carried, she flipped through until she found the appropriate records. "Arisato… Hm. I see you've lived a lot of different places. In fact, up until ten years ago, you were here, huh? Let's see, that would've been 1999, right? And then… your parents…"

She trailed off, inhaling sharply, and winced apologetically. Minato wasn't surprised; he'd seen the reaction before.

"I'm sorry," she said contritely. "There's been so much going on, getting ready for the start of the term; this is the first chance I've had to look over your records."

Minato shook his head. "It's all right. It's been ten years, I don't really think about it that much myself anymore."

It really _wasn't_ a very sore subject for him. He'd lost his parents so young, and his grandfather had always been supportive… _And Naoto. Anyone with Naoto by their side can stay strong through anything… even if she does try too hard sometimes._

"Well," the teacher went on after an only slightly awkward pause, "I'm Ms. Toriumi, the Composition teacher here at Gekkoukan. Welcome to our school."

Minato smiled in thanks. "Nice to meet you," he said honestly. _Yep, so far, this one seems sane._

Toriumi chuckled, unaware of the private joke. "Wow, such enthusiasm! Anyway, I take it you've checked the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F, which is my class. We'll be seeing a lot of each other over the next year." Pausing, she glanced at her watch. "First, though, we need to go to the auditorium; the Welcoming Ceremony is about to begin. Follow me."

Nodding again, Minato fell into step behind the teacher, maintaining his quietly cheerful demeanor. In truth, though, he was considerably less than enthusiastic; he'd been through this routine before. School as a whole was at least tolerable, if only because it was genuinely informative. This school in particular was quite promising, what with the truly bizarre events he'd already experienced.

But the Welcoming Ceremony? Minato knew what _those_ were like. Speeches he found boring at the best of times; the kind of speeches the average principal liked to give out were nearly coma-inducing.

* * *

"As we begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means…"

It took all of Minato's willpower not to yawn. He'd expected the speech to be boring, and in terms of content his expectations had been right on the money so far. What he hadn't counted on was the principal's truly magnificent ability to take dry delivery above and beyond the call of insomnia curing.

The auditorium was large, befitting the spacious, top-class school Gekkoukan was. Excellent acoustics, seating arranged just right for a clear view of the stage from any position. Absolutely perfect to take full advantage of the principal's talents.

Minato was quickly becoming convinced that the principal could turn the most inspiring speech into a perfectly adequate substitute for sleeping pills. Indeed, the man could've been spouting random obscenities, and almost no one was likely to notice. If one student in twenty was actually managing to pay full attention to the speech, he would've been astounded.

His estimate was probably close to the mark; and he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed at the intrusion or grateful for the distraction when a classmate sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder. "Psst!" the other teen said, quite unnecessarily in Minato's opinion. "You came to school with Yukari this morning, right? I saw you two walking together."

"Yeah?" Minato muttered, trying to keep his responses as low-key as possible; bored he might be, but looking to get told off for talking he was not. Of course, he could hear a fair bit of murmuring around him as it was…

"I have a question," the other student said, cementing in Minato's mind that he had a firm grasp of the obvious, if nothing else. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

A number of possible responses went through Minato's mind, ranging from the obvious to the sarcastic. In the end, however, he settled for a simple shrug. "Beats me," he murmured. He suspected she didn't, but had nothing but his gut to back up the idea, and in any case he somehow didn't want to make this guy _too_ hopeful.

The student blinked. "Huh. You came to school with her, so I figured you'd know her at least that well…" He paused, thought for a moment, and started to speak again, but what he would've said next, Minato never knew.

"Quiet!" Toriumi hissed from several seats away. "You're going to get me in trouble!"

The other student quickly leaned back in his own seat, and Minato smiled faintly to himself. He frankly doubted anyone in particular was going to be singled out for talking -they'd have to put half the school in detention, from the sound of things- but he wasn't exactly complaining about the conversation being cut off.

He rather thought he'd prefer to be lulled comatose by the principal's rhetoric than discuss the love life of someone he barely knew with someone he knew even less.

Now, if he could just manage to avoid snoring…

* * *

After School

* * *

Minato stretched, stifled a yawn, and leaned gratefully back in his chair. So far, it hadn't been a half bad day; school was no more interesting than normal, but he counted himself fortunate in that regard. The principal might be duller than a box of hammers, but he at least wasn't malevolent, and his homeroom teacher appeared to be sane for a change.

_Not too shabby,_ he judged. _Boring but decent principal, at least one sane teacher, and so far, no intolerably wacky classmates. Nobody's tried writing weird messages in huge letters on the school grounds yet, anyway, and nobody talked about aliens. I'll take it._

Stretching again, he finally hauled himself out of his seat, musing that now would be good time to start his discrete investigation into the previous night's oddities. Before he could move more than a couple of feet from his desk, though, he came face to face with another student, grinning widely.

"Hey, dude," the other said cheerfully. Wearing an open jacket, untucked shirt, and a ball cap, he was far from the strangest student Minato had ever seen… which, to be fair, didn't necessarily mean anything. "How's it goin'?"

"Not half bad," Minato judged, lifting an eyebrow. "Aside from nearly being bored to death this morning. And you're…?"

If possible, the hat-wearing student's smile widened. "Name's Iori, Junpei Iori. And you'd be the new guy, right? I know what that's like; I transferred here myself when I was in eighth grade, so I've been the new kid on the block myself. I know how tough _that_ can be." He stuck out his hand. "So. Figured I'd come over and say, 'Hey'. See what a nice guy I am?"

Almost despite himself, Minato smiled, shaking the proffered hand. Junpei was weirder than a first glance suggested, but in a good way; and certainly not as weird as some guys he'd known back in Nishinomiya. _At least I wasn't the weirdness magnet back there. No wonder that other guy was the only guy I knew snarkier than me; sarcasm was probably the only way he stayed sane, with the crew that hung around him._

"Minato Arisato," he said aloud, suspecting Junpei might have trouble with names. If his classroom attention span was any indication, at least. "Just in from Nishinomiya, but I lived here when I was a kid."

"Hey, no kiddin'? What brought you back to town?"

"Just felt like the old neighborhood was as good a place as any to wrap up my education," Minato said with a shrug. "Nostalgia, I guess? Something like that. Seemed like the thing to do, anyway." Absently, he stuck his hands in his pockets, adopting a casual pose he'd practiced to the point of reflex.

The two engaged in small talk for a few minutes, Junpei energetic and eager to learn more about the new transfer student, Minato figuring this was as good a way as any to start getting a feel for how the city had changed since he'd last lived there. Not a bad way to kill a little time, and he _did_ have some to spare before taking care of his private errands of the day.

Approaching footsteps broke up the light conversation, and Junpei turned his megawatt grin -Minato wondered briefly what the albedo of Junpei's teeth was- on the brunette walking toward them. "Hey, it's Yuka-tan," he greeted cheerily. "We're in the same class again? Cool!"

_Was that pun on purpose?_ Minato wondered. _…Nah. Probably not; something tells me geography isn't Junpei's favorite subject._

Yukari, for her part, merely sighed, familiar with Junpei's habits. "At it again, I see. Y'know, someday you're going to run into somebody who _doesn't_ like having their ear talked off at first meeting. What'll you do then?"

Junpei blinked. "Whaddya mean? I was just bein' friendly, introducing myself to the new guy. You know, showing him the ropes."

"Which ones? The ones working the pulleys and gears in your skull?" Yukari shook her head. "Whatever. Anyway," she said, turning to Minato, "it looks like we're in the same homeroom."

"Looks that way." Minato smiled faintly. "Fate, I suppose?" he suggested.

His tone was jocular; inwardly, he wondered if it really was a coincidence. He'd already come to the conclusion that his dorm placement was due to something going on behind the scenes. Something similar being at work here wouldn't have surprised him.

Yukari's reaction, though, suggested otherwise. "Fate?" she snorted, smiling a little herself. "Yeah, right! …Still, I _am_ a little surprised. Pretty amazing coincidence, isn't it?"

_On third thought, maybe something _is_ going on, and she just doesn't know either. …And maybe I'm just reading too much into things. With as many weird things as there are here, I guess not _everything_ can be part of the mystery._

Minato gave an inward, rueful shake of the head. He was reminding himself too much of Naoto; usually _she_ would've been the one to be so serious about it all, with his role to be to advise taking it easy. Apparently, it was time to take his own medicine.

"Hey, guys?" Junpei called, waving his hand in the air. "I _am_ standing right here. You forget that I'm in this class, too?" He pointed at the desk next to the one Minato had just left. "Right next to… Ah, forget it. Y'know, I heard the two of you came to school together this morning. What's up with that, huh? C'mon, gimme the details!"

The blue-haired student mentally face-palmed. _Am I going to be hearing about this _all_ the time?_

Yukari apparently hadn't yet. "Wh-what's _that_ supposed to mean?" she demanded, blinking in surprise. "We live in the same dorm, that's all; he just got in last night, so I played tour guide, that's all." She looked warily at Junpei. "Why are people even talking about it? Now you've got me worried…"

"Just live in the same dorm, huh?" Junpei's tone was skeptical. "C'mon, that can't be all of it, right?" He turned to Minato. "Right?"

"Wrong," the other said dryly. "Like Yukari-san said, I just got here last night; a senior at our dorm asked her to show me the way, that's all." _Mind you, I think there _is_ something more going on here, but not what _you_ think, Junpei._

He could tell Junpei was still a little skeptical, but he could also see Yukari was thinking more along the lines Minato himself was. "Hey," she said quietly, deciding Junpei's inquiries had received all the attention they deserved. "You haven't said anything to anyone about… well, you know, have you?"

_No, but if you keep talking about it in a classroom that still has several other students around, _somebody _is going to notice._

"Of course not," Minato assured her. "I already said I wouldn't, didn't I?"

She sighed in relief. "Right, sorry… I should've figured you wouldn't. It's just, seriously… It'd be a bad idea to let anybody know about what happened last night. I'm just a little-"

The sound of Junpei stumbling back into a desk interrupted her, reminding her the two of them weren't exactly alone, and prompting a wince from Minato. Junpei had almost fallen over, eyes bugging in surprise, confirming Minato's expectation that an uninformed ear would completely misunderstand the comment.

"L…last night?" Junpei stammered out. "Wait, I thought you said-!"

Yukari realized the implications, and almost stumbled into a desk herself. "Wait a minute!" she protested. "Don't get the wrong idea, Stupei! I told you, I just met him yesterday, never saw him before that; there is _nothing_ going on between us!"

"Oh, yeah?" Junpei was more than "a little" skeptical now. "Then what's this stuff about 'last night' that you don't want anybody to know about, huh?"

"Just a slight misunderstanding that would be _completely_ misunderstood by anybody else," Minato interjected, before Yukari could dig herself any deeper. "As your reaction suggests. It was nothing, Junpei, just a little embarrassing."

"Right!" Yukari confirmed, shooting him a brief, grateful glance. The glare she turned on Junpei immediately afterward was one Minato wouldn't have cared to have directed at _him. _"Anyway! I've got to go take care of a couple things for the archery team, so I'll see you guys later. But you better not start any rumors, Stupei, or I'll know who to 'thank' for it!"

Somehow cranking another megawatt or two into the death glare, she turned on her heel, gave a brief smile toward Minato, and walked quickly out of the classroom, eager to be away from any more potential innuendo from Junpei.

_Well, _that_ was exciting,_ Minato mused. _I wonder what the encore will be?_

"What's with her?" Junpei wondered, doing a good but not quite perfect job of hiding the effects of concentrated death glare from a woman scorned. "I mean, c'mon… Who believes rumors anyway? Man…" Shaking his head, he turned back to Minato. "She's just paranoid. But hey, you're making quite the impression already, and it's just your first day!"

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Minato said, eyeing him sidelong. "What kind of impression?"

"Oh, come on!" Junpei gestured toward the door their brunette classmate had just left through. "She's pretty popular around here, y'know? You da man!"

_Does _he_ believe the rumors that are apparently already starting, or is he just congratulating me on making friends with a popular student on my first day? …On second thought, I don't want to know. Now, or ever._

Junpei, completely oblivious to Minato's inner debate, was back to grinning. "This is gonna be a fun year," he said, chuckling. "Really fun year. I can just feel it! Great things are coming to us this year, buddy!"

Smiling a little himself at the other's enthusiasm, Minato nodded. "Yeah, I got a feeling you're right about that one, Junpei. It's looking promising." Stretching one more time, he started heading for the classroom door. "I've got some errands to run -first day in town and everything- so I'll see you later."

"You got it!"

Sliding open the door, Minato stepped out into the hallway, thoughts already turning from Junpei and Yukari's antics to his self-assigned tasks for the afternoon. _Let's see… Stop by the Faculty Office on my way out to look up this "SEES" group, then head for the shopping district. Somebody's bound to have the kind of watch I'm looking for…_

He pulled on his headphones, started up his MP3 player, and set off on his private investigation, already relishing the coming task.

* * *

Mitsuru Kirijo frowned at the documents in her hand. The top page featured a photo of a certain blue-haired youth, and some basic physical statistics; the rest had a short summary of biographical information, and other bits of miscellanea that one would expect to come up in a background check. She'd been through it several times already, and probably would read over it several more.

Slowly pacing the "command room" of the dorm occupied by the student organization SEES, Mitsuru reaffirmed that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the report. Nothing to show anything special or unusual about Minato Arisato, transfer student from Nishinomiya.

Which was exactly what bothered her. Twenty-four hours earlier, she'd simply been pleased there was no reason to expect problems with the new student; after his very unusual arrival after midnight, she found the sheer ordinariness of the background check results both puzzling and frustrating.

_There is nothing ordinary about someone who can function during the Dark Hour,_ Mitsuru mused, and glanced over at the wall monitors. Mostly blank now, one showed feed from a camera concealed within a certain dorm room. Currently no activity there -Arisato evidently had yet to return from school- but it would doubtless be very informative come nightfall… and midnight.

_Nothing ordinary at all. I grew up with knowledge of the Dark Hour, and even I had problems adjusting. Akihiko is so comfortable with it now that he just thinks of it as another way of training, but he was as disoriented as anyone at the start. And Takeba… Last night showed how she still feels about it._

_This one, though… The middle of the Dark Hour, with all the departures from normal reality that implies, and he just walks into the dorm as if it was perfectly normal. Being so calm when experiencing that, presumably for the first time, is _not_ normal. And then there's what happened afterward._

Walking over to the monitors, Mitsuru called up footage from the cameras in the lobby from the previous night. There was a brief, puzzling gap between Arisato's arrival and Takeba becoming aware of his presence, but after that, things were crystal clear; she watched again as Takeba spotted him, started, and reached down for the pistol-like device at her waist. And she watched the more interesting part: Arisato's reaction to what, to him, must've seemed an attempt to shoot him.

Slowing down the playback, Mitsuru watched Arisato intently. Saw his face tighten minutely with tension, but not outright fear. Saw his eyes take in the threat, and grip shift with startling speed and fluidity on the end of his walking stick. Saw the way he examined _her_ when she arrived to break up the incipient encounter, and only then ease the tension in his face.

They were, all in all, not the reactions of a normal high school student who had just walked through a bizarre, warped transformation of the normal world. It was evident he was perplexed by the situation, but perfectly capable of functioning within it; it was also evident he had some knowledge of how to react to being threatened by someone with a firearm.

Mitsuru's trained eye recognized the stance Arisato had briefly assumed as being some manner of sword style, and that he was taking the time to analyze the situation, not just reacting blindly. Those traits would be of great use if he could be brought into SEES, yet they also concerned her. The background information she held in her hand did not include anything that suggested Arisato was capable of what his reactions hinted at.

Of course, on closer inspection they also indicated portions of the record had been excised before the report even reached her, which presented its own puzzle. She'd received the documents directly from her father, so she wasn't _worried_ by the omissions, but still…

"You know, Mitsuru, reading those a dozen more times still won't make them tell you what you really want to know."

She glanced over at the door to the hallway, where a gray-haired senior with a red vest and boxing gloves, holding a uniform jacket over his shoulder, was just entering. "Akihiko," she greeted, unsurprised. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

Akihiko Sanada shrugged. "The guy I was going to be sparring with twisted his ankle this morning. I'll make up for it with a little hunting tonight." He nodded at the playback still running on the monitor. "Still wondering about that?"

"Aren't you?" Mitsuru countered. "What's your take on this?"

"Hard to say," Akihiko admitted. "I haven't actually met him yet. For what it's worth, I'd say that recording supports your suspicions, but it's not really a lot to go on. Looks promising, though, as far as SEES is concerned."

"True enough." She shook her head. "It definitely makes him a promising candidate. His functionality in the Dark Hour, when apparently experiencing it for the very first time, suggests unprecedented potential; at this point, I'd be more surprised if he turns out _not_ to be capable of summoning a Persona. Still… I'm not entirely comfortable with not knowing _why,_ Akihiko. The potential is one thing; the training he seems to already have, despite no sign of it in his background…"

"Your father is a pretty smart guy, from what I know," the boxer pointed out. "Those papers wouldn't have gotten as far as here without him knowing there was information missing. In fact, he may well have edited them himself; so if it's bothering you that much…"

"I'm not going to ask," Mitsuru said firmly, setting aside the files. "If my father arranged things that way, and didn't tell me, he must have his reasons. I'm just…"

Akihiko lifted an eyebrow. He knew the SEES team leader had some issues from her past; at the most mundane, there was the fact that she was heir to the Kirijo Group, which he strongly suspected to be a -admittedly fairly benign- Yakuza organization. The implications of that would be enough to stress any high school senior, and explain her awkwardness with casual social encounters.

Couple that with whatever it was that had brought the Kirijo Group into the whole Dark Hour mess -Akihiko didn't know, and frankly didn't care enough to pry- and it was no wonder Mitsuru was often quiet and aloof, pondering matters that he himself could really care less about. _This,_ however, was somewhat… unusual.

"I think you're worrying too much," he said at length. "Arisato hasn't even been here a full day yet, and all you have to go on personally is that recording. See what Yukari has to say about him when she gets back, and play it by ear for now. I'm sure we'll know more in a few days; if his arrival is any indication, he's going to get himself involved in the Dark Hour _somehow_ soon enough."

Considering that for a moment, Mitsuru finally nodded. "You're right," she said, sighing. Shutting off the monitors, she turned toward the door. "He's unusual, but it's too early to draw any conclusions as to why. We'll see how he is when the Dark Hour begins tonight."

_Still,_ she thought to herself as she left the command room, _there's something… I can think of several ways Arisato could've gotten that evident training without it showing up in a normal background check, but that doesn't explain the edits to the documentation. And either way, he _did_ react very unusually to experiencing the Dark Hour last night._

_This is one to keep an eye on._

* * *

Evening

* * *

Trying to see as much of the island as possible on foot after his first day at a new school, Minato admitted to himself, might not have been the best idea. Walking through the dorm's large double doors, he was exhausted, out of breath, and had sore feet; he made a mental note to pick up inserts for his shoes if this was to become a habit.

"Welcome back, Arisato," he heard as he came in, and Minato glanced over to see Mitsuru occupying one of the armchairs in the lounge's common area. "I trust your first day back in Port Island went smoothly?"

_She knows I'm from here originally, huh? Another clue…_ "Reasonably, Senpai," he said aloud. "No complaints. It was… productive."

"So I gather from how long you were out," Mitsuru remarked. With that cryptic statement, she turned her attention back to the book in her lap, seeming to pay the younger student no further attention.

Raising an eyebrow briefly, Minato shrugged inwardly, and walked over to the dining area. Exchanging a quick nod and smile with Yukari, who had evidently returned well before him, he crossed to the small refrigerator and extracted an energy drink; after his after school excursion, he needed a bit of a boost.

_Productive is the word,_ he mused, cracking open the can. _Man, this place has changed a lot in ten years… It's like what happened back then was just an illusion. The Moonlight Bridge is still the same, but everything else…_

Taking a sip from the energy drink, Minato settled into a chair at the dining table, opposite Yukari, and reflected back on the day's research. _So. The "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad", huh? A mouthful of meaningful words with no apparent sense, and no clue at all what it's actually _about._ Mitsuru-senpai is the leader, Yukari-san is a member, and another senior -Sanada, wasn't it?- rounds out the group._

_And their advisor is the Chairman of the School Board. If the weird name and maybe-guns weren't enough already, _that_ would be enough to tell me something strange is going on. Whatever SEES may be, it definitely isn't just another school club. They've got access, they've got gear… and like me, they didn't turn into coffins during that bizarre hour last night._

Which reminded him: setting aside his drink for a moment, Minato reached into his pocket and fished out the object that had originally set him on his sojourn throughout town in the first place. Seeing it, Yukari perked up, curious. "A pocket watch?" she said, surprised.

Minato smiled, opening the watch's lid. "Call me old fashioned," he said, studying the face of the visibly aged timepiece, "but sometimes nothing beats an antique. High tech is all well and good, but the old stuff sometimes has its own uses…"

Over in the common area, Mitsuru discretely watched the two make small talk, Minato carefully winding and setting the antique all the while. _Well, that's interesting,_ she thought. _That explains part of what he was up to today, though not why. A wind-up watch? And an expensive one at that, if I'm any judge. It looks like our new candidate has a taste for the finer things in life, and an eye for quality._

_Of course, that doesn't account for being gone so long today. I would've expected him to come back as soon as that errand was over; considering how late he came in last night, he _must_ need the rest._

She quickly turned her attention back to her book before Minato could notice her study. She was beginning to think he was being as observant of her and Yukari as she was of him, and preferred not to draw attention to her own inspection.

_Although it would probably be more surprising if he wasn't. You don't have to be unusually curious to want to know more about things like last night, especially after Takeba almost drew on him. Best to be cautious, I think, until it's time to bring him into SEES._

_I wonder, though, if that's really all that is. Arisato… just what are you up to?_

Mitsuru didn't notice Minato's eyes occasionally glancing up from the watch, nor his attention drifting momentarily from his conversation with Yukari to her.

* * *

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009, Evening

* * *

_Definitely shaping up to be a… unique year,_ Minato mused, strolling down the sidewalk toward the dorm. Hands tucked in his pockets, music filled his ears and insulated him from the surrounding city noise, making it easier to think. And there was a fair bit for him to chew on, this time.

On top of his deliberate investigating into the circumstances surrounding the dorm itself, he'd picked up a fair bit of gossip from students at the school. Much of it was just idle chatter, the usual hijinks of a typical high school, but some things brought to mind news reports he'd caught snatches of, and piqued his curiosity.

_Apathy Syndrome,_ Minato thought. _I'd heard rumors, but I hadn't realized Port Island was the center of it. A wakeful but near-catatonic state, with no clues yet found as to cause, let alone cure. Not even any solid conclusion as to whether it's a physical or psychological issue…_

_And I can't help but wonder. That's four mysteries I've found in just two days; it's already obvious that SEES is somehow involved in that strange hour, and that strange boy almost certainly has some connection to one or the other. Is Apathy Syndrome also somehow related to the nighttime weirdness?_

Climbing up to the dorm's entrance, Minato was at least sure of one thing: this year was _not_ going to be boring. School would be a relatively simple matter, he was sure, but that would merely leave his attention free to investigate the fascinating situation he found himself in. With so much going on, he was confident this puzzle would not be solved quickly.

He liked it better that way.

Stepping through the door into the lobby, Minato was abruptly confronted with another piece of the puzzle. In the common area to his right, Yukari was speaking with a sophisticated-looking gentlemen in a tan suit, with shoulder-length hair and glasses. _Hm? And who might this be?_

The man in the suit had his back to the door, so it was Yukari who first spotted the new arrival. "Yeah," she was saying, "if it's anything like yesterday, he'll probably be out until around- Oh!" Breaking off, she quickly stood up. "Just who we were talking about. Over here, Minato-kun."

Minato obligingly took off his headphones and made his way over. "Evening, Yukari-san," he greeted. "Sir," he added respectfully, nodding at the unknown man.

The man smiled, also coming to his feet. "Ah, then you'd be our new guest. Minato Arisato, I believe?" He held out his hand. "I'm Shuji Ikutsuki, Chairman of the Board of Gekkoukan High." Shaking Minato's hand, he chuckled. "Ikutsuki… Kind of a mouthful, isn't it? Even I have trouble with it sometimes. I don't like introducing myself; it's embarrassing to mess up my own name."

_Speech impediment, or a weird sense of humor?_ Minato wondered, not quite grasping what was so difficult about the name. _Either way… So this is the advisor for SEES? Probably sharper than his speech troubles suggest._

"Pleased to meet you," he said simply.

"Likewise," Ikutsuki said, and gestured toward the common area. "Please, have a seat." Once Minato had joined Yukari on one of the couches, and the Chairman had resumed the chair he'd previously occupied, his expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry about the confusion with your room assignment. You know how bureaucracy is, right?"

"Paperwork," Minato said dryly, thinking back on some of his grandfather's complaints. "Red tape. Takes three months to authorize something that takes five minutes to actually do."

Yukari and Ikutsuki both laughed. "Yes, that's about right," the older man agreed. "Your transfer came at a bit of an awkward time, and I'm afraid it's going to be at least a few more days before things get straightened out."

"That's all right," Minato assured him. "I don't mind."

_I also don't believe it's just paperwork. A dorm that has hidden cameras in the bedrooms doesn't get _anyone_ assigned to it by accident. What are you looking for, I wonder? Or waiting for?_

"I'm glad to hear it." Ikutsuki gestured vaguely. "Anyway. Since I'm here, are there any questions I can answer for you?"

_Probably several dozen. But I'll settle for what an ordinary, unsuspecting student would ask._ "I'm kind of surprised the Chairman of the Board would be visiting a dorm like this," Minato said casually.

"It's only fair to give you an explanation in person," Ikutsuki replied, making a self-deprecating gesture. "And to welcome a new student, regardless. But it's true I did have other business to attend to… Speaking of which," he said, turning, "where _is_ Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"Upstairs," Yukari said, pointing toward the stairwell. "Studying, I guess."

_Really?_

"As diligent as ever," the Chairman mused, adding to Minato's suspicions. "Though I would've thought it wouldn't hurt to say hello, at least… I gather you've already met her, Minato?"

"Right after I got here," he confirmed. "Are Senpai and Yukari-san the only other people staying here?"

"There's another senior here, actually, Akihiko Sanada. Captain of the school boxing team. I understand he keeps odd hours, so I'm not surprised you haven't seen him yet." Ikutsuki stood. "Well, much as I'd like to stay and chat, I do have work to do." Making for the stairs, he added over his shoulder, "You're probably tired after everything; only your second day here, after all, so you should probably get some rest. After all, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!'"

Chuckling to himself, the man headed up to the higher floors of the dorm, leaving Minato to give his back a strange look.

Next to him, Yukari heaved a long-suffering sigh. Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes and turned to her companion. "Sorry about that. The Chairman likes puns… but isn't very good with them. You'll get used to it soon enough."

"I've seen weirder," Minato said honestly. "Remind me to tell you sometime about the kind of teachers I've ended up with before. And the classmates, for that matter. Bad puns are pretty mundane next to some of the things I've seen in school before."

"Is that so?" Yukari raised an eyebrow, curious. "Anything in particular? I know your last school was in Nishinomiya…"

Minato chuckled quietly. "Well," he said, leaning back, "Nishinomiya wasn't the only school full of oddballs for me, but it did have an unusual concentration of them. I was fortunate enough to be a bystander; this one guy I knew managed to attract all _kinds_ of strangeness, including one girl I always half-suspected of being a space alien or something…"

* * *

Late Night/Dark Hour

* * *

_Well,_ Mitsuru mused, _he may be aware of the Dark Hour, but he obviously isn't very concerned by it._

Alongside Yukari, she sat before the monitor station in the command room, observing their newest tenant via well-concealed camera. Having been otherwise occupied the night before, she hadn't had a chance to see this for herself before, but it was, so far, matching up with her expectations.

The Dark Hour was on the way, but Minato Arisato slept like a log. By now he had to know it was a nightly phenomenon, yet he'd gone to sleep as if he hadn't a care in the world; in some ways, Mitsuru thought, a remarkably trusting attitude from someone who seemed very much aware of his surroundings.

_He knows things turn strange at midnight, and he knows there are those of us who can move freely when the rest of the world is frozen in time. Considering his reaction to Takeba the first night, I'd expect him to be more cautious. On the other hand, he's probably realized Takeba's actions were due to a misunderstanding, and he presumably isn't aware yet of the Shadows…_

"Diligent as ever, I see," a voice interjected into her thoughts. "Keeping an eye on things personally, Mitsuru?"

Mitsuru turned toward the approaching Ikutsuki. "It seems prudent," she said. "Considering how… unusual Arisato's behavior has been."

"Yes, Yukari informed me of that," the Chairman said thoughtfully. "I know _I_ wasn't that calm, the first time I experienced the Dark Hour, and I at least had some idea of what was going on." He looked over at the monitor. "So, how's he doing?"

"He went to bed shortly after you left earlier," Yukari offered. "I guess he'd had a long day; he's been asleep since then."

"Not surprising," Mitsuru noted. "Judging from how long it takes him to get back to the dorm after school…" She glanced back at Ikutsuki. "Mister Chairman, do you think he's…?"

She herself was mostly convinced of it by now. After everything, she believed it would be more surprising if he did _not_ possess the talent they were looking for; to be strange in so many ways, yet normal in the one that mattered…

"We'll know soon enough, I think," Ikutsuki told her, settling onto a nearby stool. "In the meantime, the Dark Hour will be upon us soon, and I'd like to see his reaction to it myself."

Nodding, Mitsuru turned her attention back to the monitor. For the moment, waiting as the clock ticked away the final minutes before the world turned strange, she occupied herself examining Arisato's vital signs; what could be told while he was sleeping was somewhat limited, but still informative.

_Athletic,_ she mused, _to judge from heart rate and respiration. That fits with how he handles that "walking stick"… and, come to think of it, might explain how long it takes him to get home from school. If he's spending that time wandering the city, that kind of exercise would explain a lot._

_It still leaves the question of _why_, of course, but then that's the crux of this whole matter. And he probably wonders the same about us and the Dark Hour._

Mitsuru was lost in thought, but it would've taken Zen levels of concentration not to notice the transition to the Dark Hour. The room's main lights winked out, the world became tinged with green, and an eerie silence, devoid of the usual noise of a city, came over the world.

Only the command room's monitors remained functioning, completely unchanged. Including the images they showed.

"He's still sleeping," Ikutsuki said unnecessarily. "Just as you reported." When the two students turned toward him, he nodded at the screens. "As I'm sure you'll recall, an ordinary person doesn't truly experience the Dark Hour; they're Transmogrified into a coffin, kept in a form of stasis until the Dark Hour passes. Safe, and oblivious."

Yukari glanced over her shoulder at the display. "Which means Minato-kun must be…"

"Indeed. Minato is still asleep; he may be passing the Dark Hour unknowing, but he is still physically affected by it. Still in human form, we could, if necessary, wake him up, and he is not secured against outside contact by a coffin."

"The only question, then," Mitsuru mused, "is whether or not he actually has the potential. But then if he didn't, by now the Shadows would've gone after him; one night of luck I could see, but not three."

Yukari shivered. "I sure hope so. Being able to experience the Dark Hour, but not actually defend yourself during it… That's a scary thought."

"Very," Ikutsuki said wryly. "Which is why I try to make sure I'm around one of you guys when the Dark Hour begins." Chuckling at the look on Yukari's face -the other having forgotten that detail- he turned his attention back to the sleeping student. "In any case, let's continue watching Minato, at least for a few more days. I think we'll have our answers soon enough."

"Yes, Sir," Mitsuru acknowledged. _I was intending to anyway. Takeba fit the pattern Akihiko began, but Arisato is defying all expectations. Seeing how he performs if -when- he manifests a Persona should be very interesting._

A sigh from Yukari caught her attention. "I feel kinda bad," the junior murmured. "We're spying on him, and he doesn't even know it…"

"All for a good cause, Yukari," Ikutsuki assured her. "And once we're sure he can take care of himself, there'll be no more need to. For now, we're just keeping him safe." He chuckled. "Not as if there's anything going to happen to him while he's tucked into bed, of course, but better safe than sorry."

* * *

Dark Hour?

* * *

The elevator was ascending rapidly, hurrying toward the floor of his destination; when it would arrive, well, who could say.

Something about that thought seemed odd to Minato, but it took him a few moments to figure out why. _Wait a minute… Elevator? Wasn't I just in bed…?_

Minato gradually became aware of his surroundings. An antique elevator, several times larger than he thought such an elevator was likely to actually be. Open air barely visible through gaps in the walls; and lots of blue on the inside. Blue velvet, he rather thought, though it was hard to be sure.

He himself sat in a straight-backed chair upholstered in the same blue velvet, wearing his school uniform (odd, considering he distinctly recalled changing into something more appropriate before going to bed). In front of him was a table covered in what appeared to be white silk, and beyond that…

…_Where the hell am I?_

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man," said the entity sitting on the other side of the table. A spindly, hunched old man with the longest nose Minato had ever seen, wearing an old-fashioned suit with a handkerchief tucked into his vest pocket. Standing to the man's left was a young woman in a blue dress of some sort, and she somehow unnerved Minato even more than the beak-nosed man.

Pale skin. White hair. Peculiar yellow eyes. Minato had the distinct feeling that whatever she might _look_ like, she was not human in the same sense he was.

But the old man was speaking again, distracting him from the other oddities of his location. "My name is Igor," he said, gesturing at himself. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance, young man. And this," Igor went on, waving at the strange woman, "is Elizabeth. We are both residents of the Velvet Room, and bound by the duties that entails."

The woman -Elizabeth?- smiled at him, a strangely charming expression coming from someone so peculiar. "A pleasure to meet you," she said, tone strange but somehow not quite frightening.

_Okay… I'm pretty sure this is not a dream. Or if it is, it's simply a medium for something that is actually occurring. All things considered, probably best to be polite to entities of presumably supernatural origin, at least until I found out what they're up to and where I stand relative to them._

"I'm Minato Arisato," he said, pleased that it came out with only a slight hitch. "The pleasure's mine."

The smile Elizabeth bestowed on him this time _did_ unnerve him, but he was -perhaps fortunately- not given time to dwell on it.

"No doubt you're wondering about the nature of the place you find yourself in," Igor remarked, pulling Minato's attention back to him. "This is, after all, very different from the reality you experience in your waking life." He made a sweeping gesture, encompassing the room at large. "This is the Velvet Room, a place existing between dream and reality, a room that it between the construct of the unconscious mind and the matter of the waking world."

_Clear as mud. But I suppose it confirms my hypothesis. I'm asleep, but if this is a dream, it's still very much real._

"It's been years since we've had a guest," Igor continued, smiling in a way Minato could not decide was friendly or predatory. "So long has it been since someone of your… potential talents has come to our attention, since my master found a cause worthy of his intervention."

_Master? If there's something above this guy, do I even want to know?_

Igor waved a hand again, and something resembling a hotel register materialized on the table between them, flipping open to the first page; Minato recognized it as the document he'd signed the night he arrived at the dorm. The one held by the mysterious boy no one else seemed to know about.

_Hm. So what I'm experiencing now isn't yet a fourth -or is it fifth now?- mystery, but something connected to one of the first. That's useful to know._

"The Velvet Room is only accessible to those who have signed the contract," the beak-nosed man said, nodding at the document. "As one of those who have, you are henceforth welcome here, young Minato. The talent you have is quite unique, and one that you will need to hone if you are to succeed in the events that are to come. My role… is to assist you in that task."

Minato glanced down at the contract, then turned a wary gaze back on Igor. "A unique talent… I suppose I'll find out what you mean soon enough. As for your assistance… what's the catch?"

Igor smiled benignly. "None whatsoever, in the sense that you mean, young Minato. Assisting the one who has signed the contract is the role assigned to me by my master, after all. All that is expected in return is that you abide by the terms of the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make and the consequences thereof."

Minato snorted lightly. "Contract or not, I intended to do that anyway." He glanced around once more, taking in the elevator that apparently wasn't, whose destination was still unclear. "I don't understand everything you just said, but if the way things have been going so far is any indication, I probably will soon. But I do have one question: is this a dream?"

Another smile, this one approving. "It is exactly what you suspect it to be, my dear young man. This is the Velvet Room as your subconscious draws it for you, using the imagination of your unconscious mind as a medium to communicate with you; in the real world, you remain in your own bed, fast asleep." He raised his hand, and something began to appear in the air before Minato. "You will, however, come here of your own accord soon enough, and this will be needed."

The object finished materializing, and dropped into Minato's hand. A key, he quickly realized, of the same blue as the room around him. It didn't take someone with his deductive talents to figure that sooner or later he was going to find a physical door leading into this place.

Even as he took stock of that, though, he realized the room was beginning to fade; in the real world, he was probably beginning to wake up. The last impressions he had were of a cheerful farewell from Igor, and that strange smile from Elizabeth…

* * *

Thursday, April 9th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_If the plot thickens any more, this will be more convoluted than one of Professor Moriarty's schemes. Add in a dash of Cthulhu, maybe. There's so much weirdness going on here I'd almost think I've fallen into a novel._

_Naoto would love it._

Walking down the final stretch to Gekkoukan High, Minato shook his head in bemusement. He'd thought at first that the previous evening's addition to the mystery had merely been an extremely vivid dream; certainly that was more plausible, even with the bizarre changes Port Island underwent at midnight. That comforting thought had lasted all of thirty seconds after awakening in the morning, however.

The discovery of the key "Igor" had given him lying in his hand had been fairly strong evidence that his experience had been no mere dream.

_It's starting to come together, I can feel it. It won't be long now before whatever plot I've fallen into gets into motion; somehow I can tell that the pieces are on the board, and the stage is set. Now I just need to wait for the curtain to rise…_

"Yo!" Junpei called energetically, awaiting Minato at the school's gate; as ever, he wore his blue ball cap and a smile that could've been used as a shaving mirror. "Hey, Minato, what's up? Looks like a perfect day, huh? Great weather, we're in the prime of life… What more could guys like us ask for?!"

Minato grinned to himself. _I don't know, a volume control, maybe?_ "You're full of energy this morning, Junpei. Just how many energy drinks do you start the day with? Or do you just hook yourself up to a car battery and get it direct?"

Junpei laughed. "Nah, nothing like that, man. 'Course I'm excited! After all-! Ah, right, I'm not supposed to say anything." He chuckled. "Sorry, dude. But hey, who cares! You've got me for a friend, what else do you need?"

The blue-haired student couldn't think of a reply that didn't include perhaps excessive amounts of sarcasm, so he simply shrugged, smiled noncommittally, and followed his energetic companion into the school grounds. _Note to self: always make sure to get enough sleep before school. That much energy being directed at me too early in the day and I might do something drastic._

_Still, could be worse. At least he's reasonably normal…_

* * *

Morning

* * *

So far, classes at Gekkoukan had been refreshingly normal, one of the few "typical" school experiences Minato had ever had. The principal was only slightly more boring than usual, and his homeroom teacher was reassuringly sane. Alas, that trend was now to come to a halt.

The teacher standing before the class now _looked_ normal enough. In fact, he looked so incredibly average that Minato doubted he'd be able to recognize the man in a crowd, with his plain suit and nondescript appearance; nonetheless, there was a quality to him that Minato found… disquieting.

The man cleared his throat, attempting -with some success- to capture the attention of the students. As with any classroom, a certain percentage of the population ignored him completely, but -by Minato's estimate- a respectable majority deigned to pay attention.

Though they might have quickly come to regret it.

"Ahem," the teacher said, clearing his throat a second time. "I'm Mister Ekoda, and that means I'll be your Classical Literature teacher this year. That's right, here's where you'll be learning about the works of literary art from good old Japan herself." Ekoda shook his head. "So many people say Classic Lit isn't relevant to modern, everyday life. I say they're crazy. Why, what is the present built on if not the works of the past? Nothing could be more… Hey," he said sharply, "are you even listening to me?"

_Not particularly. You lost me at "Classic Literature"; apparently we have a competitor for Most Boring Speaking Manner In An Educator, with the finals likely to come down to a close race between Mister Classic Lit Is Awesome and Principal Insomnia Cure…_

Minato actually did have a taste for classical writing; with his upbringing, it was probably inevitable. Hearing about it in a classroom environment, however, from someone of Ekoda's oratory "skill"… that was a completely different story.

_Well. Time for Boring Speaker Ploy. Could be worse; no need for Half-Crazy Asylum Refugee Teacher Ploy… yet._

He'd dealt with this kind of situation before. So, maintaining an air of studious concentration -and taking a few moments to mentally review his classic literature knowledge in case called upon- Minato turned his attention back to the mysteries of Port Island.

All in all, a much more rewarding topic to spend his time on, and very possibly more important. Much of what was going on seemed fairly harmless… but Minato had not forgotten Yukari's reaction to seeing him in that strange hour.

Nor how water had turned to blood for the duration.

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

"…So, what's the situation?"

"The same as last night. Nothing unexpected."

"Except for the fact that it's happening this way at all, of course." Shuji Ikutsuki gazed thoughtfully at the command room monitor. "I've been thinking about what you've said about Minato, particularly his arrival that first night. Even those with potential have several distinct symptoms upon first experiencing the Dark Hour."

Mitsuru nodded. "Memory loss, disorientation. Generally somewhat unstable, at least for the first few nights."

"Not this guy, though," Yukari said, shivering a little at the memory. "He just walked right in as if it was nothing, and from what little we talked about it the day after, I think he remembered it perfectly well."

That fit with Mitsuru's observations, as well. Minato Arisato was admittedly a very self-possessed person, likely in part a side effect of the martial arts training she was convinced he had; nonetheless, she didn't believe that accounted for the entirety of his equanimity. At the very least, he seemed entirely immune to the usual detrimental effects the Dark Hour had on the psyche.

Which made him all the more puzzling… and intriguing.

Yukari shifted uncomfortably, pointedly not looking at the screen. "…It still feels like we're treating him like a guinea pig."

"Only for a little longer, Yukari," Ikutsuki assured her. "And though I hate to say it, the stakes are high enough that we don't have much choice. It's _imperative_ we recruit new members if we're to take any effective action at all. Besides," he added with an encouraging smile, "wouldn't it help to be working with someone in your own year?"

She blinked. "I… guess so, yeah…" Yukari had to admit she hadn't quite thought of it that way; but then, she hadn't had a chance to talk much with Minato yet. He'd spent much of his time outside of school going about business of his own, and seemed to be playing his cards close to his chest for the moment.

_Of course, he has to know _something_ is going on. Maybe he'll loosen up once he knows the truth?_

Yukari hoped so. Having _someone_ besides her senpai to talk to would be nice.

Any further discussion on the topic was forestalled by a chime from the command console, prompting Mitsuru to frown and tap a key. "Command room," she said into a microphone. "I assume that's you, Aki-"

"_No time for that,"_ Akihiko interrupted, sounding out of breath. _"Damn it, this thing is huge!"_

Ikutsuki and Yukari exchanged alarmed looks, and Mitsuru's frown deepened. "Akihiko, what's going on?"

"_I don't have time to chat,"_ the boxer replied, breathing heavily. _"It's chasing me… Look, you'll see for yourself soon enough! I'm almost there!"_ The signal cut off almost before he finished speaking.

Yukari stared at the now-silent console, face white. "Is he bringing that… that whatever it is _here?!"_

Mitsuru spun to face Ikutsuki, face taut. "We'll cease observation for now; I think that may have just become a moot point. Mister Chairman, we'll prepare for battle!" Nodding sharply at Yukari, she snatched up her gunbelt from a nearby table and strode quickly to the door, already strapping it on.

Yukari swallowed. _Is this it? Oh, man, I don't know that I'm ready for this…_

Hands shaking, face drained of all color, she picked up her own gear and followed Mitsuru out into the hall.

* * *

By the time the trio made it down to the eerily-lit lobby, Akihiko Sanada had just closed the front door behind him… and slumped down against it, clutching his ribs, breathing hard and unevenly.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru called, showing a degree of concern Yukari found surprising, and hurried to the boxer's side. "What happened?"

Yukari saw the blood starting to stain Akihiko's shirt, and gasped. "Senpai! You're hurt!"

He waved away the concern with the hand not occupied with his injury. "I'll be all right," he bit out. The claim didn't have much credibility, considering his appearance, but there wasn't time to question it. Surprisingly, he even managed a tight grin. "You guys have a surprise coming. It wasn't far behind me…"

"This isn't the time to joke!" Mitsuru snapped, aplomb beginning to crack. "What the hell is going on, Akihiko?"

"Is it one of them?" Ikutsuki interjected urgently, face as tight as any of the others. As well it might be, Yukari thought, considering he was the only one present without _any_ way of defending himself, even potentially, from the probable threat.

_And he's got a good grip on the obvious,_ she thought numbly, not realizing it was probably exactly what Minato would've been thinking had he been there. _What _else_ would it be, anyway?_

"It sure is," Akihiko confirmed, grimacing as he tried to pull his legs under himself. "But this one isn't like usual. It's bigger, and-"

A loud thump, like a very heavy footstep or perhaps something banging on the wall of the dorm itself, interrupted his explanation, and almost made Yukari jump out of her skin. Mitsuru, though also startled, simply drew the pistol from her belt and turned to Ikutsuki.

"Mister Chairman, I suggest you head for the command room! Takeba, get Arisato up and head for the back door! Make sure he's armed! He'll probably have that staff, but if not-"

Yukari swallowed. "What about you and Akihiko-senpai?"

"We'll hold it off." Mitsuru glanced over at the boxer. "You led it here, Akihiko, so you'll have to help me take care of this mess."

"Like I had a choice!" Akihiko said irritably, but he hauled himself to his feet anyway, hissing in pain yet not letting it stop him. "Now get going, Yukari! There's no time!"

Yukari nodded choppily. "R-right!"

Whirling, she took off for the stairs at a dead run. She didn't like leaving Mitsuru and an injured Akihiko, but she had no illusions about her own likely contributions; she still had difficulty using her power at all, and would probably just get in the way. _Not to mention I left my bow in my room… No time to get it now._

Yukari sped toward the second floor, and placed her hope in the mysterious potential of their newest acquaintance.

* * *

Minato almost catapulted out of bed at the first _thud._ He tended to sleep lightly during the period when the world went strange, and on previous nights had woken at the slightest sound; this one was anything but _slight,_ and set his more primal instincts screaming.

Much as he liked to think things through, in this case he figured his instincts were probably right.

He was already dressed and pulling on his jacket -having gone straight for his school uniform in his haste- when someone started pounding on his door. "Minato-kun, wake up! I'm coming in!"

_Good thing I was already up,_ Minato thought inconsequentially, just as his door clicked and swung wide open, admitting a very harried Yukari. "What's the problem?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain calm in spite of his suddenly racing heartbeat.

"No time to explain!" she said, visibly trembling. "We've got to get out of here, now!"

Minato took about two seconds to digest that, remembered there was _some_ reason Yukari and Mitsuru carried weapons -which, indeed, Yukari had belted on now- and snatched up his walking stick. Without further ado, he and Yukari charged back out into the hall and toward the stairs.

He had no idea what was going on. Yukari, however, apparently did, and if she thought haste was in order, he wasn't going to argue. _Although I may break my neck,_ he thought, reaching the stairs and descending them at a rate not generally recommended for those interested in long-term survival.

"Back door," Yukari gasped out, when Minato glanced at her again. "Mitsuru and Akihiko-senpai are holding it off, but we need to get out of here, quick!"

Minato nodded, and together they rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, cutting through the dining area to the back door leading behind the dorm.

Skidding to a halt just in front of the door, the two took a moment to catch their breath. "Well, this is exciting," Minato muttered, not bothering to keep his sarcasm internal. "What's the encore, a pole vault competition?"

Yukari gave him a weird look. "A what…? Never mind." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "We should be okay now; our senpai should have it contained out front, and we only need to last until-"

A beeping interrupted her, along with a brief burst of static from the headset Minato now noticed she was wearing. _"Takeba, do you read me?"_ Mitsuru's voice said.

Yukari twitched. "Y-yeah, Senpai. Loud and clear!"

"_Watch out! The one we're dealing with is _not_ the one Akihiko warned us about! It could be anywhere!"_

The brunette's lost some of the color it had begun to regain. "What?!"

What little color remained vanished entirely a moment later, and Minato's hand clenched on the stick, when a series of harsh pounding noises resounded against the door they had just been about to escape through. Something was clearly on the other side… something unfriendly.

"I don't think we want to go that way after all," Minato said conversationally, heart now imitating a jackhammer. "Any bright ideas, Yukari-san?"

"Up," Yukari replied, pale as a sheet. "I don't know where else…" She trailed off, and took off for the stairs again.

Minato followed close behind. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but it was quite obvious that it wasn't good.

_On the plus side, I think I'm finally going to get some answers. The trick is to survive the process._

* * *

The pair stumbled out onto the roof, and Yukari slammed the door shut behind them, locking it. This wasn't where they would've preferred to end up, but the sounds following them up had made it clear any lower in the dorm wasn't safe… to put it mildly.

By now, Minato was tensely tightening and loosening his grip on the length of wood in his hand, wondering if he was going to have to use it… or if he even _could_ use it. He had no idea what the threat was, nor if it would be affected by ordinary weapons.

"W-we should be safe for now," Yukari gasped out, leaned her head against the door. "At least long enough for our senpai to finish things."

"I hope so," Minato said, bracing the walking stick on the roof and himself on it. "Tell me something, Yukari-san: what in the Nine Circles is going _on_ here? What's coming after us?"

"The full explanation will have to wait," she replied, struggling for breath. "Too complicated. But the thing right now is-"

_THUD._

Yukari jumped a foot in the air, and Minato fared little better. "What the hell was that?!" he hissed, snapping his stick back up. "Yukari-san-!"

"This isn't happening," she whispered, eyes wide and dilated. "This isn't happening…"

Slowly, both of them turned to look toward the edge of the roof, and Minato had his first glimpse of eldritch horror.

Black hands were coming into view. Pure black, clearly the very structure of the hands, not some kind of gloves. _Many_ black hands, too many to be any creature of the world Minato knew. Worse, hands were _all_ he could see… until an eerie blue mask came into view, held up by one of the hands like some kind of periscope.

Perhaps that's exactly what it was. The moment the mask's "eyes" were turned on the pair of trembling humans, something else frightening happened: a number of the freakish hands suddenly produced knives. Very sharp ones, if Minato was any judge.

Yukari's hand dropped, trembling, to the grip of the pistol at her waist. "Those monsters," she bit out through a mouth gone bone dry. "We call them Shadows." She shook visibly, barely managing to stay on her feet now.

The "Shadows" had now climbed over the edge of the roof, and were advancing. To Minato's intense, primal discomfort, _all_ they consisted of were hands, some of them gripping knives, one of them the mask; no other trace of anatomy could be seen. "Monster", he decided, was a pretty apt description.

Yukari's fear-spawned paralysis snapped suddenly, and she yanked the pistol from its holster. To Minato's surprise, she pressed the barrel directly to her head, breathing impossibly becoming more ragged still. "What the hell are you-?!"

She pulled the trigger.

Rather than her head exploding the way he would've expected, there was a flash of blue, and spikes of what looked like compressed air sprang up from the roof, stabbing around the Shadow. They missed, though, and the Shadow kept advancing, its gait disturbingly similar to a giant arachnid.

Panicking now, Yukari pulled the trigger once more, sending off another wave of air spikes, but they, too, missed, and then a knife lanced out at her.

Yukari fell to one side, sprawling on the rooftop. The pistol flew the other way, landing in a puddle of water-turned-blood at Minato's feet.

He didn't know if Yukari was hurt, or even if she was still conscious. Yet at that moment, Minato's own fear left as though someone had flipped a switch; instead of near-panic, he felt eerily calm. His gaze fell toward the pistol at his feet, then lifted to gaze at the shadowy horror still advancing on him.

For a brief moment, his vision went white, with the boy he'd seen the first night standing before him. _"Go on,"_ the apparition urged, smiling a strange smile.

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

His heartbeat was in his ears, slow but very strong. Bending slightly, Minato set the walking stick aside, and picked up the fallen pistol.

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

Cradling it in his hands, he flashed back to Yukari's use of it, pressing it against her head as if preferring suicide to whatever the Shadows might do.

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

She hadn't died, though, had she? Instead, a strange power had been invoked…

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

Breathing deeply, Minato lifted the pistol to his head, pressing it against his right temple. Only now did he tremble even slightly.

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

The trembling stopped. Minato's eyes closed, and his mouth twisted into a smile. The word came to him easily, though he knew not why.

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.**

"_Per…so…na…"_

**THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP-**

Minato pulled the trigger.

A hammer blow resounded through his head, forceful yet somehow not painful. Shards of blue ice exploded out where the bullet might've exited, had the pistol been normal, and as Yukari came to her senses enough to watch, more shards rose up to spiral around him, an unseen wind billowing his jacket.

A voice from the strange vortex boomed out. _**"Thou art I,"**_ it said, in a voice eerily similar to Minato's own. _**"And I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I come forth."**_ A shape was taking form now, spindly, inhumanly proportioned. Its face, like its voice, resembled that of the one who had summoned it, and it bore a harp on its back. _**"I am Orpheus, Master of Strings."**_

Yukari Takeba stared at the apparition. _We were right,_ she thought numbly. _Minato _does_ have the potential. Wow… he summoned it so easily, like even putting a gun to his head was nothing…_

She thought she'd never felt so relieved in her life. Two seconds ago, she was about to suffer a fate possibly worse than death at the hands of a Shadow; now survival seemed not only possible, but probable, with Minato Arisato on hand. He just stood there in the shadow of his Persona, grinning, Evoker still in his hand-

Then he let out a cry, doubled over, and clutched at his head, prompting Yukari to draw back herself in something akin to horror. The newly manifested Persona, Orpheus, had let out a scream of its own, a terrible sound of agony.

It wasn't difficult to understand why: something _else_ seemed to be clawing its way out of Orpheus' guts.

Minato and his Persona howling in concert, that _something_ tore free of Orpheus, ripping out to freedom. Casting aside the tattered remnants of the first Persona, it bared itself to the moonlight: skeletal, made up of grays and blacks, its most notable features were its metallic, beak-like head, and the eight "wings" chained together behind it. Wings that, on closer inspection, looked entirely too much like coffins for comfort.

Before the appearance of this apparition fully registered on Yukari, the reaper-like entity spun toward the Shadow, swinging the long, katana-like sword it held in one hand. Bits of Shadow went flying, sliced as cleanly as with the sharpest razor; another cut, and several knife-wielding hands scattered off into the night.

Like something out of a samurai movie, the Reaper spun and cut and sliced at the Shadow, swiftly reducing it to a mass of dark shreds. The execution was effortless, brutal; something Yukari had never seen from her own Persona.

Perhaps three seconds after the Reaper began to attack, the encounter was over. It clutched one of the black hands in its own grip, still struggling, but that was all… and with a disturbing _squish,_ even that remnant of the Shadow had been removed from the world.

The Reaper hung in the air, silhouetted against the green moon, for a moment longer, and Yukari could've sworn it was laughing eerily. Then, with a flicker almost like radio static, it was gone, Orpheus once again in its place.

An instant later, Orpheus too vanished, and Minato fell to his knees.

Yukari shakily drew herself to her feet. "It… is it over?" she whispered. "Hey, Minato-kun! You okay?"

A scrabbling noise answered the first question, unpleasantly so: two more Shadows, similar to the first but thankfully smaller, pulled themselves up onto the roof. But the second question, too, had an answer, with Minato pulling himself back to his feet with only minor difficulty.

"I'm okay," he said, voice rough but strong. "I'll handle this." He tossed the pistol back to Yukari, who fielded it awkwardly, and picked up his "walking stick" again. "Time to finish this."

And to Yukari's surprise, he placed his left hand around the middle of the length of wood, pulled with the hand near one end… and withdrew over two feet of gleaming steel from its hiding place in what was now revealed to be a wooden scabbard.

Tossing the scabbard to Yukari as well -the latter managing slightly better with this catch- Minato advanced on the Shadows, not hastily, but also with no trace of hesitation. Holding the katana-style blade in a grip even Yukari recognized as one born of formal training, he skittered forward, moving to flank the Shadow on the right. He had not intention of being caught between them, and every intention of dealing with them as expeditiously as possible.

The Shadow closest to him lashed out the moment he was close enough, and Minato weaved back, the knife passing just inches away from his face. Then his sword came up, parrying another knife, and kept on going; a quick twist of his wrist, and the limb holding the blade went flying, disintegrating as it went.

A quick sidestep took him out of the path of another attack, and then two steps more made Yukari think her friend had made a terrible mistake: his strafe around his target had put him in exactly the position he had avoided at the start, directly between his foes. Yet Minato knew exactly what he was doing, and his blade was already moving before he'd finished his lateral movement, slicing down with startling speed directly at the mask at the center of the Shadow.

Driven by trained muscles Yukari hadn't even realized her classmate had, the sword cleaved straight down through the mask, bisecting it less neatly but just as effectively as his Reaper-like Persona had.

The Shadow dissipated into mist, and Minato whirled, spinning blade lopping a knife hand off the other Shadow as it attempted to gut him like a fish.

Watching the totally unexpected display of martial talent, Yukari now abandoned all doubt she may have had regarding Mitsuru's judgment of Minato Arisato. And, watching another limb go flying, felt _intensely_ grateful her senpai had arrived in time to prevent anything precipitous from happening that first night. Whatever other talents Minato might have, he clearly knew _exactly_ what he was doing with that hidden sword of his.

Wrapped up in these reflections, she almost missed the moment when the remaining Shadow, already deprived of its limbs, went up in a puff of otherworldly ichor.

The only thing left standing was Minato, who was breathing hard and sweating. The exertion hadn't been more than mild exercise for him, but the stress… that was something else entirely. He'd started this whole mess by being dragged out from a sound sleep, and wrapped things up by shooting himself in the end and killing a pair of eldritch abominations in single combat.

"A coffee break for Sisyphus!" Yukari distinctly heard him utter.

Just before collapsing in an unceremonious heap, narrowly avoiding impaling himself on his own sword.

Yukari stumbled back to her feet and rushed to his side. "Hey, are you okay? Minato-kun! Answer me!" Only peripherally aware of the sound of Mitsuru and Akihiko finally arriving on the rooftop, she took hold of Minato's shoulder. "Come on, wake up! Please! Minato-kun!"

The blue-haired student heard nothing. Exhaustion had taken its toll, and his mind was now on its way to visit another.

It had begun. Events set in motion a decade earlier had come to the forefront; that which had been begun by errant scientists would now be brought to a close by those with a unique power. The fate that Minato Arisato only dimly glimpsed was at hand.

* * *

**Author's note:**

* * *

Normally, this would probably be the part where I make some kind of semi-poetic statement leading into the next chapter. This being my first experience with this particular 'verse, however, I'll just cut to the chase.

This story has been over a year in the making, something I knew I wanted to do from the moment I first watched the ending of _Persona 3._ To put it simply, it was just about my favorite RPG ending ever… right up until the last thirty seconds or so. More, my forays into P3 fanfics have shown a decided lack of stories that are actually faithful to the game. Novelizations, I should say; a number of one-shots fit with it, but none of the attempts at a written adaptation have been quite what I'm looking for.

Every attempt I've seen has taken liberties with the basic concept, to a greater or lesser extent. That has its place, certainly, but something closer to a straight adaptation is something I feel this game really does deserve. Which is not to say I won't be taking a _few_ liberties of my own; I suspect it's not hard to figure out one common fan theory that is incorporated into this fic, for starters.

And the ending. Let me say now that if you're looking for a story that follows the ending right to the end, you might want to look elsewhere. The initial impetus behind this fic was giving it a more upbeat conclusion, and that's what I'm going to do.

Also, I realize chunks of this have dialogue taken verbatim from the game. I ask that people bear with me on that for a little while; I'm still feeling my way into a proper balance between faithfulness to the game and enough differences to make it interesting. Though there are a couple of scenes I specifically intend to be near-direct copies of the game versions -certain aspects of Mitsuru's Social Link come to mind- the proportion of such scenes should go down as I get a handle on what I'm doing.

Anyway. That note is probably a bit long, so I'll leave things at that for now. I can't promise a rapid arrival of the second chapter -those who follow my other stories will know my situation IRL is somewhat chaotic at the moment- but I'll do what I can. In the meantime… -Solid


	2. Chapter II: The Dark Tower

Thursday, April 9, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

The Shadow outside had been a diversion, Mitsuru knew now, whether the Shadows were smart enough to do so on purpose or if it were a "fortunate" accident. Whichever it had been, dealing with the pathetic "Maya-type" Shadow outside the dorm had delayed her and Akihiko from the true threat.

Having lost track of both the larger enemy and their fleeing juniors, the two of them rushed up to the command room, where Ikutsuki sat in front of the surveillance monitors. The dorm was wired for several reasons; this one had not been anticipated, but it would be just as useful now.

"Have you found them?" Akihiko demanded, leaning toward the monitors; he was breathing painfully, one hand pressed against his abused ribs, wound aggravated by the fighting.

"No," Ikutsuki said worriedly, flipping quickly through camera feeds. "They didn't go out the back door; I assume that's where the Shadow was, since I'm also reading that as breached. They must've gone up, but-"

The monitors flipped rapidly through several views, going through the individual rooms -though Mitsuru couldn't imagine they'd have boxed themselves in like that- and up the dorm's floors. She was just starting to get concerned indeed after it reached the top floor without any sign of the fleeing students, and then one last feed came up.

A single camera was mounted on the roof, more for completion's sake than any expectation of utility, but now it proved its worth: brunette Yukari Takeba and blue-haired, enigmatic Minato Arisato had just come through the roof's emergency exit.

"All right," Mitsuru breathed, already turning. "Let's-"

"Wait," Ikutsuki said sharply. "Watch."

Puzzled, both SEES combatants turned back to the monitor, just in time to see Yukari's Evoker go flying from the impact of a Shadow's knife. Mitsuru winced, realizing the door breach was a decoy; the Shadow had ascended the outside of the building, instead. _And now it's going to kill my juniors, and we can't get there in time,_ she thought bitterly. _Unless… Wait!_

Yukari was winded or unconscious, but Minato was still on his feet, his face almost frighteningly calm. The Evoker had landed at his feet, and after only a moment's pause he bent to pick it up. For a few endless seconds, he cradled it in his hands… and then he lifted it toward the side of his head.

Mitsuru found herself holding her breath. _Does Arisato somehow know how to use it already? Of course, it looks Takeba already-_

Minato pulled the trigger, and suspicions of his possession of the "potential" were suddenly confirmed. For anyone else, nothing would've happened; for a Persona user, blue ice exploded like ethereal ichor from his head, and a shape began to take form. _**"Thou art I,"**_they heard faintly, _**"and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I come forth. I am Orpheus, Master of Strings…"**_

"So we were right," Mitsuru murmured. "A Persona user…"

She and Akihiko were no longer in a hurry. Akihiko, she suspected, was grateful for a chance to rest his battered body, while she herself wanted very much to see for herself what would happen next. This would settle at least one of the questions that had been plaguing her since the moment Minato Arisato arrived at the dorm…

Curiosity about his combat prowess was momentarily blown away, though, by the rather abrupt disintegration of Orpheus, ripped apart from the inside by what looked like an entirely separate Persona, an entity bearing a disturbing resemblance to the Grim Reaper.

A resemblance not at all downplayed by its brutal, almost casual destruction of the unusual Shadow.

"…What the _hell_ was _that?"_ Akihiko breathed, when the Shadow had been consumed and Orpheus returned to its original form. "A second Persona…? What the hell _is_ this guy?"

Mitsuru didn't answer. As surprised as she was, her attention was once again fixated on Minato himself, and the way he tossed aside the Evoker rather than continue to fight with the power he'd just revealed. An interesting choice, considering there were two more Shadows climbing into view; most people, Mitsuru thought, wouldn't be inclined to throw away such an advantage before the fight was over.

Then Minato pulled apart his "walking stick", and she discovered what she'd assumed was a disguised bokken was, in truth, a disguised _sword._

She was beyond surprise now, seeing the confirmation of her suspicions. The walking stick was in truth a weapon, and Minato Arisato engaged the Shadows in close combat not with the clumsy directness of an untrained amateur, but the smooth skill of a practiced swordsman.

_It's a good thing I intervened before Takeba could draw on him,_ Mitsuru thought distantly, watching Minato tangle with the first Shadow. _I'm not sure I'd want to face him myself; Takeba probably would've been down before she could even summon her Persona…_

Tearing her gaze from the monitor, she tapped Akihiko on the shoulder, and hurried out of the command room without waiting to see the final outcome of the battle. She was sure Minato would survive it; now she needed to be ready for the aftermath.

* * *

Friday, April 10, 2009, After School

* * *

There were definite advantages to SEES being backed by the Kirijo Group. In addition to the obvious research and equipment resources, Mitsuru had noticed over the past couple of years that it was occasionally handy to have a hospital available, one where there was no fear of any inconvenient information leaking to the wrong ears.

Perfect place for the medical examination of a student who had fallen unconscious after using supernatural power to defeat eldritch abominations. The best data available for comparisons, excellent medical staff… and no problematic questions.

Minato Arisato had been taken to the Kirijo Group's private hospital in the wake of his encounter with Shadows, and thoroughly examined; mostly precautionary, but it _was_ true his reaction to his first Persona summoning had been a bit more extreme than usual. It was, therefore, the first priority of the other SEES members to check in after school.

"Is Minato going to be okay?" Yukari asked Akihiko when they arrived in the waiting room, while Mitsuru spoke quietly with the doctor.

"Should be," the boxer opined, wincing as his reflexive shrug tugged at his wounded side. "The stress of the attack and his first use of Persona couldn't have been easy on him. And yeah," he said, correctly guessing her next point, "I realize none of us collapsed like that after our first times, but then we already knew Minato was unusual, didn't we?"

She subsided, unconvinced, but didn't press the point. She _did_ remember how unnervingly calm Minato had been the night he arrived at the dorm, how he'd seemed mostly unaffected even by the fatigue factor the Dark Hour usually brought with it.

_I suppose the backlash might be proportionally worse?_ Yukari speculated. _The better you handle it, the worse you take it if something _does_ happen? …Or maybe I've got no idea what I'm talking about yet._

She pulled herself out of her reverie, realizing the doctor was speaking up now. "…Probably just exhaustion," he was saying. "I understand he manifested a _second_ Persona during the event; I would imagine the strain would be even greater than usual, particularly doing so the very first time he used a Persona at all."

Mitsuru nodded, looking suddenly thoughtful. "That's a good point… It also didn't seem to be a very pleasant experience; you may be onto something." She glanced toward the room the blue-haired student was currently slumbering in. "Do you have any estimate as to when Arisato will regain consciousness? And is there anything else I should know about his condition?"

"I don't really have sufficient data to make a reliable guess," the doctor admitted. "Persona matters are still very much an unexplored field, and we don't have any experience at all with someone capable of summoning _multiple_ Personas." He shrugged. "I don't think he's in any danger, though. A few days rest, perhaps, is all he should need. And as for his condition otherwise…"

The redhead took the report he offered, and perused it with great interest. _Excellent physical condition,_ she noted, _just as I suspected. The physique of an athlete or martial artist, not a body-builder or weight-watcher. No sign of any illness or other current injury. But what's this…?_

Mitsuru looked up sharply. "Surgical reconstruction?" she said, prompting Yukari's eyes to widen in surprise.

The doctor nodded. "At some point -probably four or five years ago- Arisato's left shoulder appears to have been almost completely reconstructed. A bullet wound, forty-five caliber by my estimation; it's fortunate Arisato appears to be remarkably resilient, with unusually rapid healing, or I'm quite sure the injury would've resulted in permanent loss of function, to some degree."

Yukari exchanged a look with Akihiko. "Minato was _shot?_ But… there wasn't anything about that in the background check, was there, Senpai?"

"No," Akihiko confirmed, briefly meeting Mitsuru's eyes. "But then, I understand the check didn't mention that he got professional swordsmanship training, either… or that he _had_ a sword with him."

Privately, the boxer wondered just what had prompted Minato's training. In someone so young, there was usually a particular reason, especially to train to the levels the blue-haired student had demonstrated against the Shadows.

_I wonder if it's related to that gunshot wound,_ Akihiko mused darkly. _Something that happened to him in the past… Did Minato endure something like what I did? Or maybe… could he be like Shinji in some way, just reacting in a different way?_

The latter wasn't a pleasant thought at all. Fortunately, it also struck him as unlikely; Minato seemed too well-adjusted to have _that_ kind of baggage.

Yukari's thoughts had taken her in a completely different direction, unaware of her senpai's troubled history. "Do you suppose there's anything else we don't know about?" she said, troubled. "I mean, I wouldn't _think_ so, but… could there be anything…?"

"If you're thinking he might be dangerous to us, Takeba," Mitsuru interjected, handing the report back to the doctor, "you can put your mind at ease. There are definite gaps in his history, but whatever might be in there, my father at least is aware of it. If Arisato were a potential danger, we would have been warned."

Her kohai's tension eased away noticeably, leaving just concern for the unconscious youth's welfare. Yukari had… issues with Mitsuru, but on that point she was inclined to take the redhead's word for it. "All right. Thanks, Senpai."

Mitsuru nodded fractionally. "In any case, I don't see anything more to be done here today. One of us should stay with him from time to time, so as to have someone there when he wakes up, but otherwise, we should all return to the dorm. Arisato is in good hands here."

"I might as well pull a shift today," Akihiko offered, wincing at a twinge in his ribs. "I could use the rest… dammit."

* * *

?

* * *

Somehow, it didn't surprise Minato particularly to find himself in a room full of blue again. After the experience that preceded his loss of consciousness, a return to the Velvet Room seemed entirely predictable; where one supernatural element manifested, others were likely to follow.

"On the plus side," he murmured to himself, focusing his groggy gaze on the long-nosed man sitting across from him, "at least this means I'm not dead. …I think."

Off in the corner, Elizabeth chuckled, and even Igor himself smiled. "Indeed, you are still very much alive, my dear Minato," he confirmed. "You merely lost consciousness after manifesting your 'power' for the first time; hardly unexpected, under the circumstances, and nothing at all to be concerned about. And may I say, it is good to see you again."

_I'm not sure if I believe that or not, seeing as I still have _no_ clue just what the heck you are, but for now I'll take that at face value._

"Considering that it involved shooting myself in the head," Minato said aloud, "and the splitting headache I got when that second… Persona…?… appeared, I take it that was something that came out of my own mind."

Igor nodded. "Correct. A Persona is a manifestation of your own subconscious; in your case, it was Orpheus that heeded your call, which may say interesting things about yourself."

_Interesting is one way of putting it, _Minato reflected, remembering the story behind the mythological musician. _Went all the way to Hades to recover the love of his life, and almost succeeded… Damn. Is this Freud or Jung we're talking about here? Or just plain sick humor on the part of the universe? Saya…_

"So just what _is_ a Persona, anyway?" Minato asked, only a brief tightening of his face betraying the memories that had just flashed through his mind. "I can tell it's power, and I get that it came from within me, but…"

Igor folded his hands, bracing his elbows on the tabletop as he leaned forward. "A Persona is, to put it simply, a kind of mask. It is a facet of your own personality, come to the fore as a 'shield' between you and threatening external stimuli, much as a mask shields its wearer's true face. Its power is of you, yet also apart from you, between your true self and your foes. Although," he added, seeming apologetic, "your power is still quite weak."

_If that was weak, what's _strong_ like? Especially that second entity… that strange Grim Reaper. If that's only a taste of the power I might have, what might I be capable of down the road…?_

"Strengthening your power is a straightforward task," Igor was saying now, gazing intently at the young student. "Which is not, of course, to say that it is _easy,_ but then worthy tasks never are, are they?" He waved a hand, perhaps to stave off any impatient response. "The power of Persona depends on the strength of your own spirit, and one's spirit is strengthened through one's bonds with others." His stare sharpened, seeming to pierce Minato's very soul. "You are, I perceive, a lonely young man…"

Minato's face tightened again. "I had noticed, thank you," he bit out, throttling his spike of bitterness. "I get your point."

He paused then, taking a deep breath, forcing back his reflexive response. _He's just blunt,_ Minato reminded himself. _So far, that's the worst he's been. And I _need_ the kind of information he seems to be able to provide. Him… and that girl._

This time around, Elizabeth had said nothing, her only sound being a chuckle at Minato's earlier sarcasm. That was not, he realized, the same as being totally detached; the uncanny young woman had been watching him closely throughout the entire conversation. Indeed, Minato realized with a slight start, she had very probably noticed both his reaction to Igor's blunt appraisal of his social life… and his earlier grim introspection of the significance of Orpheus.

So he judged, at any rate, from the expression that adorned Elizabeth's face now. Not quite the air of perpetual amusement he'd seen last time, nor quite pity… It was something Minato couldn't quite quantify.

It was also, however, not particularly germane to his current situation, and Minato forced his emotions back to normal and his attention to the matter at hand. "About when I summoned Orpheus," he began, "something strange happened afterward. That thing that-"

"I am sorry," Igor interrupted, "but I fear there is no time to answer that question now." The scene around them was starting to waver, and the long-nosed man nodded at Minato's realization of the fact. "Time marches on, in the world of man, and it seems you are about to awaken there yourself. When next we meet, you shall come here of your own accord, and I promise to answer your questions then."

"I'll hold you to that," Minato told him, struggling to keep the Velvet Room in focus a few seconds more.

"I'm sure." Igor smiled and a waved a hand. "Until then, however… Farewell…"

The almost overpowering blue of the Velvet Room faded out, and once more Minato was left with a final impression of Elizabeth's peculiar smile…

* * *

Friday, April 17, 2009, After School

* * *

The blues of the Velvet Room faded to blackness, a blackness that was gradually lightened just faintly; Minato realized it was sunlight shining upon his closed eyes. As Igor had suggested, he'd finally returned to the world of day, conscious once more after who knew how long inside his own mind.

He just lay there for a moment, taking stock of his situation. His body felt weak, but no more so than might be expected by a few days in bed; as near as he could tell, he wasn't actually injured in any way, which meshed with what he remembered from the last time he was awake.

Minato also quickly perceived that he wasn't alone, hearing the faint sound of someone else's breath. Cracking open his eyes -slowly, to avoid blinding himself- he took in the hospital whites that had replaced the Velvet Room's blue, he cautiously turned his head to find Yukari Takeba sitting on a stool beside his bed, watching him with worried eyes.

_She was worried?_ he thought, mildly surprised. _I wonder… how long _was_ I out?_

Yukari's eyes widened at his movement, and a relieved smile broke out on her face. "Minato-san, you're awake! I-" She broke off. "Um. Sorry. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Minato admitted, carefully sitting up. "But okay; I guess I wasn't hurt or anything." He glanced around the room, noticing with some surprise his sword, once again concealed in its scabbard, leaning against the wall by Yukari. "…Where am I, anyway?"

"This is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital," she answered, sagging in visible relief. "It's close to the monorail station… and under Kirijo Group control, so they knew what they were dealing with." She let out a deep sigh. "Thank goodness… I was starting to wonder if you were _ever_ gonna wake up, y'know? It's been a week," she added, before he could ask. "I knew you could sleep through just about anything, but isn't that a _little_ excessive?"

_Well, that confirms I've been watched since I arrived,_ Minato thought, wondering if his classmate even realized what she'd just let slip. _They'd better have a good reason for it, though; I don't like being spied on in my sleep…_

"I was really worried about you," Yukari went on, glancing away. "I knew there was some trauma from summoning a Persona the first time, I've done it myself, but none of us had _that_ kind of reaction to it."

"Guess I'm just special," Minato said dryly. "Gave me one hell of a headache, too." He stretched experimentally, confirming that his limbs still obeyed, and with only minor protest at that. "Anyway, Yukari-san… is there some kind of vigil going on here?"

She blinked. "Huh? Oh! Well, kinda, yeah; we figured somebody should be on hand for when you woke up. After everything that happened that night… And…" Yukari hesitated. "You saved my life, y'know? I couldn't just leave you alone after that. Um… speaking of which, just call me Yukari, okay?"

"Then I'm just Minato," he returned, filing away for later consideration the faint blush on her face.

_Well, Igor did say my power depended on the strength of my bonds with others… but I don't know that that's quite what I want to deal with just now. Nor do I need to, though, plenty of other things to worry about… A Kirijo Group-run hospital, huh? Convenient. Wonder if this means I'll finally get some decent answers._

_Of course, if I've been here a week, they probably know some new things about _me,_ too. Not that they'll know what to make of it. Thank you, Grandfather…_

"…So what's the medical verdict?" Minato asked aloud. "I _feel_ fine, but I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"They couldn't find anything wrong with you," Yukari assured him, smiling again. "Of course, that's part of why I was worried… But the doctor figured you were just exhausted. The Dark Hour has that effect on people, and summoning a Persona… especially the way you did…"

He nodded, remembering the way Orpheus had somehow given way to what he assumed to be a completely separate Persona. Considering what Igor had said of the nature of Persona, Minato wondered if possessing multiple such avatars said something about his mental state, and made a mental note to ask the old man next time he found himself in the Velvet Room.

_Although I'm not entirely sure I want to know…_

"Still seems like a long time to sleep," he mused.

Yukari sighed. "Tell me about it. I've never seen anyone sleep that long without actually being in a coma. You know how worried I was?"

_Given that I was asleep until two minutes ago, actually, I somehow managed to miss that. But thanks anyway._

Yukari's expression had sobered again. "Um… I'm sorry I was so useless back there. I was supposed to be the one protecting you, and yet I couldn't actually do anything…"

Minato surprised her by reaching out to touch her hand. "It's okay," he assured her. "That was your first time actually fighting, am I right?" She nodded, surprised at his insight, and he continued, "Trust me, you did just fine. I'm impressed that you even managed to try, under the circumstances, and as it was your only problem was that your aim was off. It's not your fault, Yukari."

She gazed at him strangely. "…You sound like you're speaking from experience, Minato."

He winced, and tapped his left shoulder with his free hand. "By now I expect you know about this. I… don't like to talk about it, but yeah. I know what you're going through." Minato shook his head. "Water under the bridge. Doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is… what in the Nine Circles _were_ those things?"

Yukari relaxed, back in familiar territory. "We call them Shadows. They're what our group is fighting against, and why I carry the weapon I almost drew on you the first night." She glanced at the sheathed sword beside her, a little warily to Minato's eyes. "Glad Mitsuru-senpai stopped me… Anyway, you'll get the full story later; I think Mitsuru-senpai and the Chairman are going to tell you about it when you're back on your feet."

"Fair enough."

Inwardly, Minato was quite amused. He was lacking some of the specifics, but he had a feeling Mitsuru Kirijo and Shuji Ikutsuki were going to find they had less to tell him than they though. _Igor's told me a lot about Persona, including some things I'm not sure _they_ know. And while I may not know what Shadows are, I've got a pretty good idea about SEES, and Yukari's reference to the "Dark Hour" jives with my experiments…_

There was silence for several moments, which Minato was grateful for. He generally disliked being talked to so much right after waking up; only his "pre-awakening" awareness in the Velvet Room made this at all tolerable. Not that he blamed Yukari for being a tad giddy, but he still liked a little time to wake up.

Yukari had turned away, looking toward the window; she seemed contemplative to Minato, as if debating with herself whether to broach a subject. For his part, he was taking the time to evaluate his own condition, determine just how much a week's worth of bed rest had weakened him. So far, it seemed all right, but he didn't like having missed several days of practice.

_At least now I can do it in the open again; after that night, they all know that's not just a walking stick. Heh; wonder how they felt when they saw the blade? Yukari seems a bit spooked…_

"Oh!" Yukari turned back to him, bearing the look of someone who's found a way to put off talking about something. "Mitsuru-senpai had this brought here; she figured you'd want it on hand when you woke up." Picking up the seemingly innocuous length of black wood, Yukari handed the concealed weapon to the bedridden Minato.

"Thanks." Carefully accepting the weapon, Minato grasped it near one end, twisted slightly, and drew forth the blade. He promptly averted his eyes slightly, unprepared for the sunlight reflected off the polished steel; rather his surprise, it was no longer covered in whatever Shadows used for blood and guts.

"Mitsuru-senpai cleaned it for you," Yukari explained, noticing his puzzlement. "She's head of the Fencing Club."

Minato nodded. "I know." _And you're part of the Archery Club, and Akihiko-senpai is captain of the boxing team. Among other things._

Watching him examine the blade with interest, Yukari fidgeted a moment longer, then sighed, making a decision. "You know… I'm kinda like you, Minato."

He glanced up. "Hm?"

"My dad…" Yukari glanced away. "He passed away in an accident when I was little, and I've kind of spent the last few years staying away from my mom as much as I can. We don't get along very well anymore…" She hesitated. "You're all alone too, right?"

Minato winced inwardly, but at least she wasn't as blunt about it as Igor had been. "Not quite," he said quietly. "I've lived with my grandfather since, and I have a little sister. But… no real parental figures, no."

Yukari nodded. "…To be honest, I already know about your past. Er, most of it," she amended, glancing again at the sword in Minato's hands. "I know more than I'm really comfortable with, and I didn't think it was fair, so… I wanted you to know what brought me here, too."

_Not as complete as you think, Yukari,_ he mused, _if Grandfather was as thorough as it seems. But I appreciate the sentiment._

"Then you know my sister and I were left alone after a car crash ten years ago," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Yukari admitted. "Actually… I think it was the same night, weird as it is. There was a lab in this area run by the Kirijo Group, and that night there was some kind of big explosion. My dad worked there, and supposed died in the blast… but nobody really knows what happened there."

Minato nodded slowly, more pieces falling into place. _Everybody has their own reasons for being here, huh? Akihiko-senpai's got a grim look about him, too, and Mitsuru-senpai is heir to the group that seems to be at the heart of this mess. I'm trying to start fresh, and Yukari…_

"You're here to find out what happened."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "The Kirijo Group is basically in control of this entire city, so I figure if I stick around Gekkokan long enough, I'll find out something." She winced, glancing back toward the window. "Of course, when something actually happened, I turned out to be useless. You're right, that was my first time in a fight, and I panicked…"

"Water under the bridge," Minato reminded her. "And you at least tried _something."_

Yukari managed a smile. "Well, thanks… but you're the one who actually _did_ something, and you didn't even know what those things were."

"Not my first time having something try to stick a knife in my guts," he told her vaguely, slipping his sword back into its concealing scabbard. "As it was, I was pretty damn scared myself; just because I had some idea of what I was doing doesn't mean I wasn't terrified."

"Really? Still…" Yukari shook herself. "Sorry. You just woke up, and here I am telling you my whole life's story. It's just… I've been really bothered by keeping so much from you, so I decided I was going to tell you as soon as I could." She smiled, more naturally this time. "Thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story for a long time."

"No problem," Minato told her, smiling in return. "I know the feeling."

She stood. "Well, I should get going. I'll let the others know you woke up. And take it easy, okay? Be a good patient! You're gonna need your strength."

_I don't doubt it. If I'm right, stuff like that night is going to be the new normal._ Minato smiled to himself. _About time something interesting happened._

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, then," he said aloud. "Take care, Yukari."

"You too, Minato."

* * *

Evening

* * *

Akihiko somehow was not particularly surprised to find Mitsuru in the command room, hours after Yukari brought news of Minato's awakening. The Chairman was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't surprise him either; he knew his friend preferred to do some things on her own.

"I heard from Yukari," he said, parking himself on a chair with a wince. "The new guy's up and about, huh?"

"Conscious, anyway," Mitsuru confirmed; she was gazing intently at the footage from the previous week's Shadow encounter. "I called the hospital after Takeba brought the news back, and I understand Arisato will be back in school tomorrow, and coming home to the dorm in the afternoon. No lingering problems."

"Lucky him," Akihiko said wryly, gingerly rubbing his battered ribs. "Not bad for a rookie."

"He's a lot of things, but I don't think a rookie is one of them," she countered. On the screen, Minato was advancing on the Shadows, his concealed blade revealed for what it was. Frowning, she watched the entire encounter, most of which she'd missed the first time.

Arisato's attack was more audacious than Mitsuru might've preferred, but its daring was the only thing about it that could possibly be considered "amateurish", and the skill with which the encounter was conducted otherwise suggested the confidence evidenced might well have been justified. Certainly he dealt with the flanking attack with dispatch despite moving himself right into it.

"He's good, eh?" Akihiko posited, aware that he was not the best judge of swordplay; his specialty was good old fisticuffs. Mitsuru was the one who knew blades, and he knew it well. "Looks like those Shadows didn't stand a chance."

"No," Mitsuru agreed. "I don't know how well he might've done trying to take out that first one in close combat -whatever that was, it wasn't a normal Shadow- but those other two…" She shook her head. "Arisato knows what he's doing, Akihiko. And I don't think that's the first time it's been life or death for him."

"Not many people get in real-life swordfights anymore, Mitsuru," the boxer pointed out, shifting to ease pressure on his chest. "Unless you think he's Yakuza or something."

"Not exactly, no," she admitted. "Not _with_ them, anyway; I'm quite sure my father would've mentioned something like _that_ to us. But I wouldn't be surprised if he'd encountered that world in some fashion before." Mitsuru picked up a sheaf of papers from the monitor's control console, papers Akihiko recognized as the medical report on their new acquaintance. "Gun crimes don't happen every day in Japan, Akihiko."

"True enough." Akihiko raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I get it. You've been checking crime news?"

"Yes. Even if it's fake, we have a solid trail from his original departure from Port Island ten years ago until his return. We know where he's been, where he's lived, and we have a name to match with reports."

"No luck, though."

She grimaced. "No."

And Mitsuru had looked. According to the background passed along by her father, Minato Arisato had lived in Kyoto for two years after his parents died, then moved to Tokyo for another three, and spent a year each in small towns called Hinamizawa and Inaba, then three more in Nishinomiya. The last had led directly to his arrival in Port Island, having departed Nishinomiya for reasons not entirely clear.

So far, she had turned up exactly nothing to explain his shoulder wound or his proficient swordsmanship. No news reports seemed to match up with a shooting, given the timeframe, and though she'd made discrete inquiries through other sources, she didn't really expect to find anything new from them, either.

"Either the incident was kept so quiet even we didn't hear about it," Mitsuru mused aloud, "or Minato Arisato is not really his name. Maybe both. At this point neither would surprise me very much."

"Me either," Akihiko admitted. "But," he went on, "didn't we already agree it's not likely something to worry about? Your father knows whatever really went on, and he would've warned you if Minato was some kind of threat. Honestly, Mitsuru, you're worrying about this way too much."

She sighed, setting aside the papers again. "Maybe you're right. I just… don't like mysteries of this kind, Akihiko. And I have to wonder if this is some kind of test my father's putting on, something I'm _supposed_ to figure out on my own."

He shrugged. "And if it is?"

"Then it's not something I'm going to worry about, but it _is_ something I'm not going to fail at." Mitsuru's eyes were troubled, but not at all uncertain. "It just makes things more complicated, that's all."

Akihiko pushed himself back to his feet. "Well, then, keep at it, if you think it's that important. You should have something more to go on, right? We're supposed to give him the full story on SEES tomorrow night, and he's bound to let _something_ slip then."

"…You're right." Mitsuru stood as well. "We should both get some rest. With Arisato joining us, it won't be long before we can start exploring Tartarus properly, and then we'll need all the rest we can get."

The boxer smiled in response, and it wasn't hard for her to understand why. _You always love a challenge, Akihiko… and that tower is probably the ultimate test for all of us. Well, you'll get your wish soon enough; you may be on the sidelines until that wound heals, but Tartarus is a mystery that won't be solved in a day._

She smiled faintly to herself, a new thought striking her. _Who knows? Maybe solving the mystery of Arisato will help solve the mystery of Tartarus. Either way, at least we'll all have something to vent our frustrations on._

* * *

Saturday, April 18, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_Guess those times walking all over town weren't for nothing,_ Minato thought wryly, approaching Gekkokan at an easy pace. _If I hadn't done that, finding my way to school from the hospital would've been a real pain. Wish the doc hadn't kept me overnight like that…_

He had his school bag tucked under one arm, and his "walking stick" in hand; the pretext of still being weak from his days asleep was handy for getting the hidden blade back to the dorm without raising any eyebrows. And, Minato had to admit, it _did_ help with the lingering fatigue… even if that fatigue wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be.

Indeed, he was taking in his surroundings in general with great interest. Since waking up, he'd found his senses seemed somehow sharper, sounds coming through crystal-clear, his eyesight keener than ever before; at the same time, he felt a strength in his limbs just a little greater than before he'd fallen unconscious… before Persona.

_I'd wonder if the two facts were related,_ Minato mused, walking up to the school gates, _but I don't really think I need to. Supernatural power is summoned, heightened senses appear afterward. Occam's Razor is all I need to apply to _that_ mystery. Something else to maybe ask Igor about, though…_

He wasn't surprised to find a pink-clad brunette matching strides with him as he reached the gate. "Mornin'," Yukari greeted with a cheerful smile. "Looks like you're back on your feet. Everything in one piece?"

"Hand bones still connected to the wrist bones and everything," Minato replied, smiling wryly. "Honestly, I could've been back at the dorm last night." He shrugged. "Of course, you know doctors. Always taking the safe road… though I guess there's reasons for that."

She nodded in rueful agreement, glancing speculatively at the shoulder she knew to have once been wounded. "I know what you mean," she said, walking with him into the school proper. "I was in with laryngitis once; not my happiest week ever."

Minato winced. _Especially not with your family, I suspect. Spending time stuck in a hospital bed, with only your mother -estranged mother- for support? …Makes me glad I've still got Naoto._ He winced again at that. _Which reminds me: I'd better get in touch with her tonight. I was out for a week; she must be going nuts about now._

Yukari paused just in front of the shoe lockers. "By the way," she said, lowering her voice. "I know you just got out of the hospital, but Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you after school. Come to the fourth floor when you get back, okay?"

"Got it," he said, voice only barely audible at all. _So. The long-awaited explanations, huh? That should be fun._

* * *

Morning

* * *

_Ah, yes. I'm awake again, so of course the universe now embarks to put me right back to sleep. This is a battle I may not win…_

"…So, the Stone Age can be summarized as mankind's struggle against the mammoths…"

_How insightful, Professor. With what, pray tell? Oh, you mean Man was limited to using stone weapons? There's a _reason_ it isn't called the Age of Man-Mammoth War? How nice of you to slip in a reference to that._

"…And that's enough about the Stone Age. I'm sick of it! I'd so much rather be talking about the Sengoku Era; that's when Japanese history finally gets exciting!"

_Never would've guessed. I assumed the samurai helmet was to protect your brain from distracting thoughts of the modern age. Or keep out mind-control rays, but I guess you're not _that_ kind of crazy._

"…Sadly, I'm paid to do this, so I gotta stick to the curriculum… It's rough being an adult, y'know…"

_You think that's tough? Try being one of the kids whose brain is being turned to oatmeal listening to this._

"Anyway. Can anybody answer a question about the Stone Age? Hm… Junpei, you give it a shot. The Stone Age is divided into the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. Can you tell me the difference between them?"

A couple of feet to Minato's left, Junpei twitched, adopted a look of panic, and glanced about nervously. "How… how am I supposed to know _that_?" he breathed, just low enough for the teacher -the helmet-wearing Mister Ono- to not hear. "Minato…"

Minato thought about letting him stew, figuring he'd never learn if simply handed the answers, but in the end took pity on the panicking student. _One of these days I'll get him into a study group or something,_ he promised himself. _For now I'll save his dignity._

"Differing tool-making techniques," he said under his breath, and Junpei -visibly relieved- repeated the answer to Ono.

"Correct," Ono said with a nod. "Paleolithic tools were chipped stone, while Neolithic were ground stone… though either way, it's still stone…" He sighed theatrically. "Argh… I wanna get to the age of the katana; everything else is so _dull…"_

Minato suppressed a snicker, thinking of the blade hidden in plain sight under his desk. _And did he even notice he made a pun? …Nah, probably not. Hell, _Junpei_ is more aware of the outside world than this guy is; he might not know the books, but at least he isn't stuck with his brain in the wrong century._

Junpei was, oddly, looking disgruntled. "Man," he muttered, "I get the answer right, and I don't even get any credit? Oh, well… Hey, thanks, Minato. Saved me."

_And your dignity… I'll put it on the tab._ Minato had just about figured out by now that he was probably going to be supporting Junpei's academic efforts for the entire year.

Turning his attention -reluctantly- back to the teacher, Minato was cognizant of some mutterings around him. "Wow, he gave Junpei the answer… Arisato's really smart!"

_I like to think so. But then, I also like to pay attention in class; that might make a difference._ Minato shrugged. _Oh, well. Can't hurt to be popular, I guess._

_Even if school is looking to be the _less_ interesting part of my life this year._

* * *

After School

* * *

_Okay,_ Minato thought, stretching gratefully, _that's that. I've got the meeting with Ikutsuki tonight, but until then… Maybe I'll drop by the Wild Duck Burger, find out what the heck _that's_ about. 'Bout time I started getting familiar with the local fast food…_

As he bent to pick up his school bag, though, Junpei wandered over, his usual grin on his face. "Hey, man! Thanks a lot back there. Really saved my hide. Not bad for a guy who just woke up!"

"My body was inadequate, not my brain," Minato informed him, scooping up his bag. "'Sides, it was nothing some bed rest couldn't cure." _Although actually, I suppose it _was_ my brain responsible for that one… sort of. Well. No need to bring ancient Greek minstrels into this conversation, is there?_

Junpei laughed. "So I heard! Man, Minato, what the hell happened to keep you out of school for a _week_? Some of us were startin' to wonder if you'd caught some horrible disease, and Yuka-tan wasn't talking."

Minato looked at him strangely. "…Why would you assume Yukari knew what was going on?"

_She did, of course, but there's no reason _you_ would know that. I know you're not with SEES, and while I don't think you're an idiot, I also don't think you're as good at ferreting out information as I am. Or that you'd have any _reason_ to be looking for that kind of info, for that matter._

Unfortunately, Junpei's reasoning wasn't quite what Minato was expecting, and his particular phrasing just set off the man with the hat even more, grin widening so much Minato thought his face would break. "See? That's what I'm talkin' about! No honorific even, huh? 'Just met him yesterday'; 'nothing going on'… Yeah, sure!"

_Oh, hell. There's nothing worse than a little information coupled with an equal amount of brains. If this gets any farther, the whole damn _school_ is going to think I'm dating Yukari, and nothing she or I say will do a thing to change their minds. Never mind that I've only known her a little over a week, and I was _asleep_ most of that time…_

Minato closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and carefully picked up his concealed blade, setting the tip of the scabbard carefully on the floor. _Hm. How hard would it be to assassinate Junpei, and would Grandfather be able to pull enough strings to get it declared justifiable homicide?_

Regretfully dismissing the violent option, Minato took another breath, let it out, and shook his head. "It was nothing much, Junpei, just a little overexertion. I exercise a lot, y'know, and I… kind of overdid it this time." It was stretching the truth, but close enough. "And for the last time, Yukari and I are just friends. I just met her last week, and I spent most of the time since in dreamland."

"Yeah, suuurrre." Junpei's grin, infuriatingly, didn't abate, but he did at least let the subject drop. "So. You headed home?"

"After I grab a bite." Minato hoisted his bag and made for the door. "What the hell is a 'Wild Duck Burger', anyway?"

Junpei hurried after him. "Good question! Let's find out. Don't worry, I'll pay my share!"

…_Joy. Note to self: watch your mouth even more when in the company of overenthusiastic rumormongers…_

_I think I'd rather be back on that rooftop being attacked by a mass of black ichor and knives again._

* * *

Evening

* * *

_The fourth floor, huh… That room with the monitors, I'm guessing._

Returning to the dorm after an exhausting meal with Junpei, Minato detoured to his room to drop off his school bag, then ascended to the fourth floor, still using his blade to offset his lingering -if rapidly vanishing- fatigue. This, then, was what he'd been waiting for: answers to some of the questions that had been plaguing him since the very night he arrived in Port Island, answers about the strange hour, the student group SEES…

And the way Yukari had almost drawn her peculiar weapon on him. _Though that one got kind of obvious when I saw her try to use it against those Shadows. And when I shot myself in the head with it._

Yukari was waiting for him when he reached the top of the stairs. "There you are!" she said, smiling. "Okay, let's go. They're waiting for us." She reached for the command room door, then paused, looking at the length of wood in Minato's hand. "…Do you take that thing everywhere?"

"When possible," Minato admitted. "But I really am still a little tired, too." He grimaced. "Stopped on the way back to eat with Junpei."

"Ah. That explains that."

The two entered the command room, where -per Minato's expectation- Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, and Akihiko were waiting for them, seated around the table, on top of which sat a briefcase; Ikutsuki in an armchair, Mitsuru on the couch to his left, Akihiko on a stool to his right. That seemed to confirm Minato's estimation that SEES was, at this point, quite small. _Probably why they wanted me, too. Persona can't be a very common power, and if those Shadows are the threat I'm starting to think they are, they need all the help they can get._

_Suits me._

"Ah, there you are," Ikutsuki greeted, with his usual friendly smile. "I'm glad to see you're all right; after so long in the hospital, I was starting to worry. Please," he added, gesturing to the seats, "sit down."

Minato complied, taking a stool two places to the right of Akihiko, his sword across his lap; Yukari settled on the couch, next to Mitsuru.

"I assume Yukari has told you why you're here. But before we get into that…" Ikutsuki nodded at the boxer. "I believe I mentioned him when we met. This is Akihiko Sanada, the other senior on the team."

Akihiko waved a black-gloved hand, his friendly smile seeming somehow more genuine than Ikutsuki's, to Minato's eyes. "How ya doin'?"

"Not bad, for someone who just spent a week in dreamland after being attacked by masses of black and sharp pointy things," Minato replied dryly.

The boxer chuckled, acknowledging the point, and Ikutsuki smiled appreciatively. "Well, then," the Chairman said, taking control of the meeting again, "let me begin by asking you a question: would you believe me if I were to say that a day consists of more than twenty-four hours?"

"Yes."

Ikutsuki blinked, leaning back in his chair; Mitsuru, by contrast, leaned forward, giving Minato an inquisitive look. "…Not quite the answer I was expecting, Arisato," she noted, tilting her head. "I would think most people, asked that question, would think the person asking it to be either joking or crazy."

Minato smiled, surprising Yukari, and reached into his pocket. His hand came out holding the antique pocket watch he'd bought after his first day at Gekkokan, still ticking quietly to mark the passage of time. Clearly, it had been kept properly wound…

_Wound?_ Mitsuru thought, and her eyes widened.

"Doors and whatnot still worked the night I got off the train into that green weirdness," Minato explained, perhaps a trifle smugly. "A battery-powered watch might fail during that time, but a wind-up still works fine. I checked it against the regular clocks after my second night here."

"Clever," Ikutsuki said, recovering his poise. "I hadn't realized you were looking into it at all."

"When the world turns green, water turns to blood, and machines stop working," Minato said, voice dust-dry, "it makes a guy wonder. The people turning into coffins thing didn't hurt, either."

"Then you're aware of the Dark Hour," Mitsuru stated, leaning back again. "The hour when machines stop, and the world goes strange. We call it the Dark Hour, and frankly, it's why you're here. Because of the hour that's hidden between one day and the next."

"Hidden," Minato repeated, glancing from the redhead to the chairman.

"Effectively," Ikutsuki agreed. "As you've clearly realized, most people aren't even aware of it; only those with potential, and a tiny handful like myself, are capable of experiencing it. Every night at midnight, the Dark Hour occurs, and only we will ever notice it."

_No duh, Sherlock. So far, you haven't told me anything I haven't already figured out. The origins may not be clear to me, but the mechanics of it seem pretty simple. All I've had to do so far is confirm the things I observed that very first night._

_But the mere existence of the Dark Hour isn't why we're here, is it?_

Akihiko saw the wheels spinning in Minato's eyes, and nodded, correctly deducing the next question. "You know all that, of course. But then you also know now that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting, don't you? You met them that night, last week. The twisted monsters… the creatures we call 'Shadows'. They're denizens of the Dark Hour, and they attack anyone outside the protection of a coffin."

"Lucky us."

The boxer grinned. "Actually, I kind of think we are. It's our job to defeat them. Exciting, isn't it?"

_Kind of. If you're an adrenaline junkie. Most people would think twice about getting excited over the possibility of taking on eldritch abominations of unknown origin and very much known lethality. …Of course, if I _didn't_ like that kind of thing, I'd be aiming for a different line of work, wouldn't I?_

_Sigh. We're all crazy, aren't we?_

Mitsuru, had she but known it, had the exact same view, without the hypocrisy to go with it. "Akihiko!" she said sharply. "Why are you… You just got _hurt_ the other day, remember? And you're…" She shook her head. "This isn't a game, you know."

Akihiko was, at most, slightly abashed. Minato, on the other hand… _Ah. There _is_ a difference. I like the adrenaline rush, but only if there's a goal on the other side of it. Sounds like Senpai just likes a good fight._

_We're _still_ crazy._

"It's all right," Ikutsuki interjected. "He does his job well, and that's very important, given the stakes involved." He turned back to Minato. "By now, you've surely realized we're an organized group. To be specific-"

"SEES: Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," Minato recited, closing his eyes. "Led by Mitsuru Kirijo, advised by Chairman Shuji Ikutsuki, members consisting of Akihiko Sanada and Yukari Takeba. On paper, a school club… but school clubs don't have members carrying converted firearms."

The others openly goggled at him. "How did you…?" Mitsuru began.

He smiled. "I saw you and Yukari wearing SEES armbands the first night. Wasn't hard to look it up at school. The rest followed from there."

Mitsuru stared at him. _The whole time we've been checking up on you… you've been investigating _us_? Right from the first night. I see… You didn't ask the obvious questions so as not to draw attention, and then you went and did some digging without saying a word about it._

_You're clever, Arisato. Very clever. So who, exactly, _are_ you?_

"W-well," Ikutsuki said, recovering from the surprise, "that's essentially correct, yes. As I see you've surmised, SEES is a school club in name only; our true purpose is to fight Shadows. The police are powerless to help, and someone _needs_ to act."

"I take it, then, that not everyone without the potential you speak of is safely boxed up," Minato said, eyes narrow. "Or it wouldn't be so urgent."

"Correct." Mitsuru, shoving her own questions into the back of her mind, leaned forward again. "There are those like the Chairman, who can experience the Dark Hour but have no defense against its dangers. When a Shadow attacks, it may leave physical marks… but except against those who can fight back, the threat is more often to the mind than the body. They feed on human will and emotion."

The blue-haired student nodded slowly. "Apathy Syndrome… And those like us are the only ones who stand in the way?"

"Essentially," Ikutsuki confirmed. "There are those who can function in the Dark Hour… and among those are individuals who can manifest the power of Persona. It's not well-understood, but its effects are known, and they're the important thing: those with the power of Persona are the only ones who can defeat the Shadows. It's all up to you guys."

_Explains some things, I guess. Apathy Syndrome… And Persona is the deciding factor, huh? Since I was able to kill two Shadows with my sword, I think it's safe to assume it confers power beyond just the summoning. That would explain the increase in my physical capabilities…_

_Huh. Guess maybe I'm getting an early introduction to the family business. Well, this shouldn't be as much of a strain as going up against Yakuza, after what happened to…_

Minato shook himself, forcing memories back where they belonged. "You're not telling me all this for no reason."

"Correct." Mitsuru stood, and opened the briefcase Minato had noticed earlier. "What the Chairman is trying to say is that we want you to join us, Arisato. Persona users are very rare, and right now we only have three." A flicker of pain crossed her face, almost too fast to catch; Minato made a mental note to do more digging later. "We've already prepared an Evoker for you. Will you lend us your strength?"

Minato looked at the pistol in the case, identical to the one Yukari had nearly pulled on him the first night, and which he himself had used two nights later. _So what'll it be, "Arisato"? Stand on the sidelines and watch things unfold from safety, or pick up that Evoker and dive headlong into battle with eldritch abominations, with no clear end in sight and a very real possibility of ignominious death?_

_Hah. As if there was ever any question. Life hasn't been this interesting in years._

With deliberation and a total lack of hesitation, Minato reached down and withdrew the holstered Evoker from the case. "I'm in," he said quietly. "All the way."

Yukari sagged in relief, released from tension Minato hadn't noticed she was feeling. "Thank goodness! I was afraid you'd say no." She sank back into the couch, almost giddy.

_Good thing Junpei isn't here. He'd _never_ shut up._

"Thank you so much," Ikutsuki said, smiling broadly. "I'm really glad to have you with us. Oh, and as for your room assignment…" He exchanged a look with Mitsuru.

"You may as well just stay in your current room," Mitsuru said, nodding to the Chairman. She hesitated, then added, "Given what you've already figured out on your own, I imagine you've also realized it was no accident you were assigned here. I apologize for the deception, but…"

Minato waved a hand. "It's fine. You need recruits, and you need to be discrete. It worked out." He stood, and extended a hand. "So. SEES, huh?"

She nodded, and shook the hand with a small smile. "Indeed. Welcome aboard, Arisato."

Minato took in that smile, small as it was… and in the back of his mind, felt his connection to Orpheus subtly strengthen. As Igor had said, his power depended on his connections with others, and now, he'd formed a new bond, however tenuous.

_Hm. I'm starting to think coming back to Port Island may have been the best decision I could've made. Forget the strengthening of my power… just having people I can count on, friends… that's worth more than any blade or supernatural power._

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

Exhausted as Minato was after everything was said and done, he still had an instinct for when things around him were not quite as they should. Only a couple of hours after finally getting to sleep, his subconscious detected something amiss, and nudged his mind to wakefulness.

Cautiously opening his eyes, hand sliding unobtrusively toward the small space between bed and wall where his sword spent the night, Minato caught sight of a short figure in a striped shirt, standing beside the bed. A _familiar_ figure, at that.

"Hi, how are you?" the boy who had presented him with the contract the first night said, smiling.

Minato abandoned his attempt to reach his blade. The contract had ended up in Igor's hands, suggesting this boy was somehow connected to the Velvet Room. In that case, probably not a threat, and possibly something he couldn't do anything about if he was wrong.

"…How'd you get in here?" he asked slowly.

The boy chuckled. "Oh, I'm always with you…"

_That sounds ominous. Although I could just be dreaming; this seems macabre enough to fit with my darker nights._

The boy looked at him with those eerie eyes, still smiling. "Soon… the end will come. I just remembered that, so I thought I should let you know."

_Okay, that's _definitely_ ominous._

"The end of what?" Minato asked, eyeing the boy warily.

Disturbingly, the boy didn't change his eerily cheerful expression. "The end of everything… although to be honest, I don't really know what it is yet. Just that it is an end." He chuckled again. "But… take heart. I can tell that you've awakened to your power, and quite an unusual power it is. A power with many forms, yet bound to none… a power that may yet be your salvation, depending on where your choices lead you from here."

_Clear as mud. This kid must take lessons from Igor. Though his penchant for the macabre seems more like Elizabeth. …Why do I seem to be attracting the weirdoes these days?_

Before Minato could formulate another question, the boy faded away, then reappeared at the foot of the bed. "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor that contract… although I suppose it would be quite unlike you not to." His smile seemed eerier than ever, somehow. "I'll be watching over you, even if you forget about me… I'll see you later."

He faded out again, leaving Minato in green-tinted darkness.

_That,_ he reflected, _has got to be the creepiest conversation I've had in a long time. If this isn't a dream, I really hope I at least don't remember it in the morning. I've got enough on my plate without worrying about an impending apocalypse or two._

Minato drifted off, wondering as consciousness faded what the plural of "apocalypse" was.

* * *

Sunday, April 19, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_The nice thing about sleeping for a week,_ Minato thought, finishing his morning exercises, _is that I only had one day of school before getting to rest again. By Monday, I'll be back in top form. And in the meantime… Time to explore a little more._

Glancing at the sword sitting on his desk, looking perfectly innocuous in its plain black scabbard, he considered for a moment. _Should I…? Nah. Probably don't need to yet._ He'd selected the blade specifically because of how easily overlooked it was, but as far as he knew, he hadn't been in town long enough to make any serious enemies.

Depending on how things went, Minato knew there was a good chance he'd take to carrying the blade everywhere even in Port Island, particularly if certain past acquaintances caught wind of his location, but for now, it probably wasn't necessary.

Passing up the blade, Minato instead reached for his casual coat, a short green trench coat. Green wasn't really his color -the Gekkokan uniforms suited him just fine- but it had been a gift, making it immeasurably more valuable than even its price tag suggested.

Trotting down the stairs to the lobby a few minutes later, Minato paused on the stairs. _Huh,_ he thought, recollection intruding on his plans for the day. _I wonder what was up with that kid last night? I don't _think_ I was dreaming; I know from the Velvet Room that I really did meet the kid the first night here, and it would be really weird to have random dreams about him predicting the apocalypse…_

_And that was what he did, wasn't it. "Soon, the end will come…" Brr. Yeah, let's remember to talk to Igor about that next time I find myself in the Velvet Room; this is something just a _little_ too creepy to let slide._

Resuming his course into the lobby and toward the door, Minato was sidetracked by a voice. "Hey, Minato! You going out on the town for the day?"

He turned to see Akihiko leaning against one of the couches, wearing a very sharp tan suit. He was favoring his left side a little -unsurprising, after his injury- but from the smile on his face, Minato figured the boxer put it down to the price of doing business.

_Besides, a boxer gets punched in the face a lot. He's probably used to pain._

"I was planning on it, yeah, Senpai," Minato admitted, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I could use some fresh air, after being in bed for a solid week." He paused. "And sharing a meal with Junpei after school yesterday."

"From what Yukari's said about the guy, that doesn't surprise me," Akihiko agreed, laughing. "Anyway. If you're going out, mind some company? We're both in SEES now, and teammates should hang out some, y'know? Besides," he added, "I know a great ramen place."

"If it's the Hagakure, I've been there once already. But it's good," Minato admitted. "So… sure, why not?"

_Not like I'm gonna pass up a chance to learn a little more about what's going on around here. Besides, he _has_ to be more interesting company than Junpei…_

* * *

Evening

* * *

_All right,_ Minato thought, doffing his trench coat in his room, _lunch with Akihiko-senpai is definitely better than with Junpei. He may like to fight even more than I do, but at least we've got something in common. The Shadows… and it sounds like he's got something in his past he doesn't like to think about, himself._

The boxer was also, fortunately, far from dumb. Minato got the impression that he wasn't much into studying, but unlike Junpei that didn't mean he was unobservant, just that he had different priorities. Minato's own suspicion was that Akihiko had experienced something that had set him on the road to becoming stronger, much like what had prompted his own pursuit of blade mastery.

_Shouldn't be a problem working with him. Which is good, since if I've got this right, the two of us and Yukari are the entirety of the "field team" at the moment. That's not a lot of manpower…_

He'd just hung up his coat when he heard a voice calling him below. "Hey, Minato!" he heard faintly. "Could you come down here for a sec?"

_Huh. Wonder what's up._ "Be right there, Yukari," Minato called back, and reached for his school jacket. He didn't care if people called him neurotic, he _still_ didn't like being without a jacket or coat of some kind if he could help it.

Hands safely tucked into his pockets, MP3 player softly pouring music near his ears -and concealed blade tucked through his belt- he descended the stairs to the lobby a minute later, finding both Yukari and Akihiko -the latter carrying his own jacket over his shoulder, as usual- waiting in front of the door.

"What's up?" he asked, joining them.

"That's what I'd like to know," Yukari replied, turning to Akihiko. "Surprises around here usually aren't good ones… Hey, what's that thumping?"

Minato frowned, catching it himself. _It sounds like… something coming up the stairs outside? Hell, what now? It can't be a Shadow this time of day… New recruit with luggage, maybe?_

"There's someone I want to introduce you guys to," Akihiko answered, effectively confirming his kohai's suspicions. "Hey," he added, turning to the door, "hurry up, will ya? We haven't got all night."

"Gimme a break! This stuff is heavy, dammit!"

Yukari and Minato exchanged horrified looks. "No. No, that can't possibly be-"

The left door swung open, and a cart of suitcases rolled in, pushed by a youth in a Gekkokan uniform, the beginnings of a beard, and a ball cap. It was horrifying. It was unbelievable. It was unmistakable.

It was Junpei Iori.

"J-Junpei?" Yukari blurted. "What is _he_ doing… No! You can't mean-!"

Akihiko smiled, amused by the juniors' evident horror. "Junpei Iori of Class 2-F, as I'm sure you already know. He'll be staying here starting today."

_Oh, joy. I _knew_ today was going too well._

Junpei chuckled, grinning when he saw his classmates. "Wazzup, guys? Heh, so _this_ is the dorm you guys live in, huh? Pretty spiffy place!"

Minato stared at him for a long moment, then turned, very slowly, to Akihiko. "He's staying _here,_ Senpai? Does that mean what I'm afraid it means?"

Junpei feigned insult. "C'mon, Minato! It sounds like you're not happy to see me!"

_Of all the people from school I'd like to see join us, Junpei, you're really not on the list. That Fushimi girl, maybe, or Kaz… _Minato shuddered, thoughts of the class' kendo team member reminding him of another classmate. _On the other hand, better you than Kenji, I guess…_

"I bumped into him the other night," Akihiko said, in response to Minato's question. "He has the potential, so it's a good thing I found him before the Shadows did… I already told him about SEES, and he's agreed to join us."

Junpei grinned. "He found me cryin' like a baby in a convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but man… That's embarrassing!" To Minato's eye, he didn't seem very embarrassed, but he let it pass. "Akihiko-senpai tells me that that's, ya know, completely normal. Bein' confused, not remembering it clearly later… that kind of thing. Takes some time before you get used to it. But you guys know that, right?"

Yukari nodded dubiously, but Minato simply sighed. "So I'm told," he said neutrally, deciding it wasn't worth it to mention _he_ hadn't experienced anything worse than fatigue his first time in the Dark Hour.

_Though come to think of it… why _didn't_ I react the way everybody else does? Hm… might be something else to ask Igor about. Heh; _that_ mental list is getting pretty long._

"But man, was I surprised," Junpei was saying, oblivious. "I had no idea about this Dark Hour thing, let alone you guys! So _that's_ why you were asleep for a week, Minato? Man, that musta been exciting! What happened, you get hit pretty bad?"

"Like I told, it was overexertion," Minato replied, shrugging. "The Dark Hour takes a lot out of you as it is, and I'd just run down two flights of stairs, then up four. Add to that summoning my Persona for the first time-" _or Personae; I still don't know what was up with that Reaper_ "-and taking out the remaining Shadows…"

Junpei blinked. "You mean you really fought 'em yourself? Cool! That's gotta be a rush!" He grinned again. "I bet you're stoked to have some more help, right? I can't wait!"

"Uh, yeah," Yukari said dubiously, exchanging another look with Minato. Like him, she didn't remember that night as being especially fun.

Akihiko waved a hand, drawing attention back to him. "Right, then, introductions aren't really necessary here. I think we're about ready now…"

"Ready?" Junpei turned to him, exuberant as ever. "Oohh, you mean we're gonna do something? Sweetness!"

The boxer nodded. "With this many people, I think we can finally start exploring that place. It's about time we got past the entrance…"

Yukari inhaled sharply. "You mean… Tartarus?"

_Tartarus… New one on me. …Why are there so many mythological references here? This is starting to creep me out a little. Still… just makes it all the more interesting._

"Tartarus…? What the hell's that? Sounds like some kind of toothpaste."

Minato shot Junpei an annoyed look. That kind of sarcasm was _his_ job.

"You'll see it for yourself tomorrow night," Akihiko promised him. "For now… Let's just say it's the place where we think we can find the reason for the Dark Hour." He waved a hand. "The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready. And get plenty of rest tonight; there's school tomorrow, and then the Dark Hour…"

_The reason behind the Dark Hour… and the source of Shadows, perhaps? Sounds like we may be getting to the crux of the matter. Sounds like fun._

* * *

Monday, April 20, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_This is starting to feel like something out of the Twilight Zone,_ Minato mused, making the morning trudge to school. _Or maybe a bad superhero comic. "By day, unassuming high school student, strong academically but no celebrity. By night, warrior in the battle against the forces of darkness, wielding a sword and the power of his own mind…"_

_Yeah. If you didn't know just how weird the Dark Hour really was -and about how many psychological issues seem to be lurking in SEES- you'd think we were part of a new season of _Sailor Moon_ or something._

He couldn't complain, though. He'd sunk his teeth into a good mystery, and each bite seemed that much tastier. Minato didn't know what lay at the center of the Dark Hour's conundrums, but he was confident by now it was going to be well worth the journey.

Then he got close to the school gates, and overheard snippets of someone else's conversation. "Good morning!" A yawn. "Oh, I'm always so drowsy on Mondays…"

_I hear that. I'm not a morning person at the _best_ of times…_

"Yeah, me too. Well, that's what first period is for, right? A little extra sleep, and nobody notices!" A pause, then a groan. "Oh, wait… there's morning assembly tomorrow. No fair!"

"Ugh… I'm way too lazy for that. I'll just pretend I never heard about it…"

The two chatting girls drifted out of earshot, and Minato reflected it was a pity he no longer had the fatigue excuse to bring his disguised blade to school. News like that, he thought darkly, was worthy of seppuku.

_Not that listening to the principal is going to be much different. They could record his speeches and deploy it as a weapon in wartime, use it to sap the enemy's will to live. Of course, our principal's speeches are probably in violation of the Geneva Convention…_

* * *

Lunchtime

* * *

_Yep, definitely Twilight Zone. In what sane world is most of the day this boring, when at night we face hideous monsters armed with antique weapons and manifestations of our psyches? And come to think of it… why is always teenagers that get into predicaments like this? Come to think of it, this isn't Twilight Zone, this is shounen anime…_

Minato stood and stretched, working the kinks out from sitting in the hard-backed desk chair for a couple of hours and trying not to fall asleep. Ms. Toriumi was pretty normal compared to her fellow teachers, but even she had her moments of weirdness. And what was it with her and sugary desserts?

_Better question: what do cakes and such have to do with teaching a class?_

To his right, Yukari was also hauling herself out of her seat, yawning. "I thought I was gonna fall asleep… guess maybe I should've turned in earlier last night." Stretching, she turned to Minato. "How about you, Minato? Are you doing okay? I know you were still pretty tired at school last time…"

He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm okay. I'd just been in bed too long, is all." He stifled a yawn, belying his statement. "…Of course, even I have trouble if class is boring enough…"

She snickered. "Y'know, Minato, that actually surprises me, coming from you."

"Hey," Junpei demanded, wandering over, "don't leave me out! What's the joke, huh, Yuka-tan? You know something I don't?"

_Please tell me he isn't still on _that_ tangent. Dammit, Junpei, you know why Yukari and I know each other now, so you _should_ be giving it a rest… right?_

The suggestive way he moved his eyebrows did not instill confidence in the blue-haired swordsman.

"Honestly, Junpei," Yukari sighed, shaking her head. "_How_ many times has Minato saved your hide by giving you the answer? My point is, he does that well in school, but he says he has as much trouble as we do staying awake?"

"Oh. I get it." Junpei grinned. "Heh. Guess you're as human as the rest of us after all, Minato! Or… maybe you've got some 'extracurricular' activities going on, keepin' you awake at night?"

_Too many witnesses, "Arisato",_ Minato told himself firmly, right hand twitching as if aching to grip the hilt of his blade. _If it comes to it, find a pretext to corner him in a dark alley, and dispose of the body off the Moonlight Bridge. Running him through in the middle of the classroom would probably be taken amiss…_

"Youch!"

"Shut up, Stupei!" Yukari snapped irritably, while Junpei hopped awkwardly on one foot. "It's not funny!"

_Note to self: Yukari can and will stomp on your foot if you make her mad enough. Good to know._

Swearing under his breath, Junpei hobbled back to his seat to rest his abused foot. From the look on his face, Minato suspected the incident might at some point inspire retaliation, but would probably get Junpei to stop with the innuendo.

For a little while, at least.

Yukari sighed. "Figures," she muttered. "At least nobody seems to take him seriously…" She turned back to Minato, but whatever she might've said was preempted by the classroom door sliding open, admitting a familiar redhead.

"Can I have a minute?" Mitsuru asked, and without waiting for a reply continued, "Come to the lounge when you get back tonight. There's something I need to discuss with all of you."

Junpei staggered painfully back to his feet. "Oh, cool. We gonna have _that_ talk?"

"I'll save the details for the meeting," she told him, glancing around at all the potential eavesdroppers. "Be there at seven. I'll see you then." She turned to leave, then paused for a moment, noticing Junpei's difficulty standing up straight. Her mouth opened, then closed; a brief shake of her head later, and Mitsuru was on her way out of the room again.

Once she'd gone, Junpei sagged back into his chair. "Well," he said, massaging his foot, "she sure didn't waste any time. Like a whirlwind, here and gone." He added a curse under his breath, but Minato figured that was directed at his foot, not their senpai.

_I wonder what she thought of that?_ he thought, amused. _She's probably got some idea of what Junpei's been doing; someone like that, she'd know a lot more about her subordinates' goings-on than she'd admit. Leaders do._

_Have to wonder what goes on in her head, though. She's so focused… Maybe a Freudian past, like Akihiko and me?_

"She's probably just busy," Yukari said to Junpei, surprising Minato with the touch of acid in her voice. "She's Student Council President, remember? I'm sure she's got lots of school business to deal with, on top of SEES…"

Junpei was a lot of things, but _totally_ unobservant wasn't one of them; his eyes widened at Yukari's tone. "Whoa, Yuka-tan! That ain't like you! Do I sense a little hostility?"

_Okay, _almost_ totally unobservant,_ Minato amended, watching Junpei continue to favor his injured foot. _If he's only just now sensing hostility, anyway. He didn't seem to do a good job of picking it up _before_ she stomped on him, anyway…_

Otherwise, though, he had to admit he saw Junpei's point, and his own gaze focused curiously on the brunette.

Yukari looked uncomfortable. "…It's not that I don't like her or anything," she muttered, lowering her eyes. "She's just…" She shrugged, unwilling -or perhaps unable- to properly articulate her meaning. "You know."

Actually, Minato almost did know. Mitsuru was the heir to the Kirijo Group, the corporation Yukari's father had worked for, and whose lab had exploded with him inside. Mitsuru was, in a way, the living representation of what Yukari was investigating, and she _was_ being more closemouthed than Minato figured Yukari would've preferred.

Moreover, even Minato had to admit Mitsuru's personality was… not entirely suited to dealing with people. It was no surprise she rubbed Yukari the wrong way on a personal level, and it was something Junpei probably didn't even think to question.

_But that's not quite how I see it. Heir to the Kirijo Group, with a long-deceased mother and a father perhaps so distant as to hardly qualify as one. The Group itself is almost certainly Yakuza, if probably ninkyo dantai, so her upbringing would've been somewhat distant from normal society._

_And as heir, she's got some big expectations to live up to. If something happens to Mitsuru-senpai's father, those are some big shoes to fill. Even if there's nothing else traumatic in her past, that's one hell of a burden._

_Senpai… I wonder if you realize how much in common we really have?_

Heaving a sigh of relief as his foot finally stopped complaining at him, Junpei got to his feet one more time. "Yo, Earth to Minato!" he called, seeing the other student lost in thought. "You still in there, buddy?" He grinned. "Oh, I get it. Hey, even if it ain't two-timing, isn't Senpai just a little out of your league?"

Yukari whirled to glare at him, eyes promising violent retribution at some later point. Minato, on the other hand, turned very calmly, sat down in his chair with calm deliberation, and proceeded to repeatedly bang his head on his desk.

* * *

After School

* * *

_All right. Enough of that for the day… Yep, this is definitely starting to feel like a shounen anime. Get up, go to school… save the world. Next thing you know, I'll be complaining that killing monsters is less of a chore than going to school._

_Meh. Buffy this ain't, "Arisato". Don't get cocky._

As before, Minato took the time to stretch upon extricating himself from his seat. If he was right about how the evening was going to go, he needed his muscles loose and ready for action. _Too bad I don't have time for a quick kata… Ah, well._

Picking up his school bag, Minato headed for the classroom door, nodding briefly at Kenji Tomochika, motioning with his hand to indicate he was busy today. He was, to be honest, relieved that that was the case; he liked Kenji, and was grateful to the other student for introducing him to the Hagakure ramen shop, but he had to admit he found Kenji's interests… a little creepy.

_Nice kid,_ Minato thought, _but he really didn't need to ask me to keep his target a secret._ He shuddered. _I can understand having a thing for girls older than you are, buddy, but that's… that's… Well. Just so long as it doesn't spill over onto me, I'll play sounding board for you. Just _please_ don't ask me for relationship advice…_

Yukari fell into step with him in the hall, walking quickly; Minato suspected she wanted to get a head start over Junpei. After the hat-wearing student's comments at lunch, he didn't blame her in the least. "Well," she said, quietly enough to avoid eavesdroppers, "you've probably got a good idea of what's going to happen tonight, huh?" She smiled. "You've figured out almost everything else so far."

"Simple deduction," he replied, shrugging. "But yeah, I think I've got a clue, from what Akihiko-senpai said yesterday." Minato looked at her sidelong, concerned. "You gonna be okay? I remember last time…"

"…I think I'll manage," she said, after a moment's thought. "I know what to expect now… and I won't be alone." She chuckled. "I might've been better last time if I'd known I was with an expert!"

"I wouldn't call myself an expert," he said ruefully, absently rubbing his left shoulder (from the slight ache, he suspected they were in for some rain in the near future). "Hell, most of it was dumb luck; I didn't know what that Evoker was even for, and if I'd guessed wrong I don't think I would've been able to hurt those things at all."

_In fact, I suspect I would've blown my own head off,_ Minato thought soberly, remembering his examination of his own Evoker the night before. _Those might not be _intended_ for use as direct offensive weapons, but those things damn well started out as fully-functional firearms. If I hadn't had the potential, I think I might've found out the hard way._

Minato wasn't very skilled with guns. That didn't mean he was unfamiliar with their operation; far from it. His background -and life experience- had made certain of that.

"Hey, Minato," Yukari said suddenly, as they descended to the ground floor, "how about we stop by Hagakure on the way back? We wanna make sure we've got plenty of energy tonight."

"Sounds good," Minato agreed.

* * *

Evening

* * *

Having skillfully evaded both Junpei and Kenji long enough to eat in peace, Minato and Yukari returned to the dorm right on time, and made for the fourth floor lounge, detouring only to retrieve their chosen weapons from their rooms. As expected, their seniors were already there, along with Ikutsuki; Junpei had also arrived ahead of them, looking mildly bewildered.

"Hey," Junpei said, looking at them strangely, "how'd you pull that off, anyway? It's like you two just disappeared!"

_Oh, hell. Not again._

"You'll have time to discuss it later, I'm sure," Ikutsuki put in, cutting off the incipient discussion and earning Minato's gratitude. For right now, we have other matters to discuss." He gestured for the two to sit.

"Time for us to get to the heart of the matter?" Minato remarked, perching on one of the stools, sword across his lap. "Akihiko-senpai said something about this yesterday."

"Right," the Chairman confirmed. "The problem SEES has had all this time is that, up till now, Mitsuru and Akihiko have been our only Persona users. A force of two really isn't adequate for the kind of exploration we need to do, so we've been pretty much stuck on the defensive so far. Recent events have changed that, however, and we now have a total of five Persona users on hand."

_Well, now we've had our refresher course on basic arithmetic,_ Minato thought, unable to resist a little internal sarcasm. _I'm sure we all needed that. …Actually, Junpei might've, at that._

"This means we finally have the numbers to really do the job," Mitsuru said, picking up where Ikutsuki left off; Minato noticed a sheathed rapier lying by her side. "It never seemed like a good idea to have all our combat force inside Tartarus at once, and I wanted to be able to send a team of at least three for any exploration attempt. Now we have the capability to do that."

"Right," Ikutsuki agreed. "Therefore: starting tonight at twelve A.M., I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

Junpei scratched his head. "Um… I asked this yesterday, but… what exactly is this Tartarus thing? It sounds like a toothpaste brand of something."

Yukari shot him a look of mild disgust. "You haven't seen it, Junpei?"

_Actually, I haven't either… but I can see why you'd be more annoyed at Junpei for it._

"It's not that surprising," the Chairman pointed out, leaning back in his chair. "After all, it only appears during the Dark Hour."

Junpei's eyes widened. "Really? Whoa…"

_Is it really that surprising? If you've never heard of it, it's probably not something most people perceive, Junpei. And exactly when do things other people don't perceive show up…?_

"Just like the Shadows," Akihiko remarked, entering the conversation. "Interesting, isn't it? And it's the perfect place for guys like us to get in some training. It's only there during the Dark Hour… and it's where the Shadows come from. Like a nest or hive."

Junpei looked intrigued; Yukari, on the other hand, was looking at the boxer in concern. "But, Senpai… You still haven't recovered from your injury, have you?"

_Good point. You don't mess around with injuries like that, even if you are a Persona user…_ Minato frowned, thoughts arrested. _Wait a sec. Persona can manifest as direct physical attacks -like that Reaper thing I accidentally summoned- and, if Yukari's attack was any indication, elemental strikes. Could there be a Persona ability related to healing injuries…?_

Another thing to ask Igor about, perhaps. Or just try out himself, if his suspicions about his own power were correct.

"Akihiko will only come as far as the entrance," Mitsuru was saying, giving the other senior a stern look. "We're not going to take chances with his recovery… are we, Akihiko?"

"…Yeah, I know," Akihiko acknowledged dejectedly. Minato had the sense that the only reason he agreed was out of respect for Mitsuru… or possibly fear.

_Hm. Our heiress comrade may be tougher than she looks, if she makes the school's champion boxer nervous._

Ikutsuki smiled reassuringly. "As long as you guys don't go too far in, I'm sure Akihiko won't get _too_ jealous. It's something we have to face regardless, since Tartarus is the source of the Shadows, and very likely the key to unraveling the entire mystery of the Dark Hour."

"Relax," Junpei said with a grin. "I've got your backs!"

The look Yukari turned on him was as dubious as the one Minato suspected was on his own face. "…Why does that make me _more_ nervous…?"

"I'll be staying here, of course," the Chairman said, in response to an inquiry from Mitsuru. "I can't summon a Persona, so I think I'm better off not taking any chances." He waved a hand. "Go on, you guys. I'm sure it'll fun as well as informative!"

_The weird thing is,_ Minato mused, coming to his feet, _is that I actually agree with him on that one. This is just the kind of thing I've been waiting for since I first realized something weird was going on in Port Island._

As the group made to leave, he turned a curious look on Junpei. "By the way, Junpei… just what _do_ you 'have our backs' with?"

The other junior hefted a long, sheathed katana. "This! Got it from a guy on the kendo team, when he decided he wasn't interested in blades anymore and went for swim team instead. Nice and heavy, and ready for action!"

Minato eyed the blade dubiously. He estimated it weighed at least three times what his own slender sword did, rather heavier than a "normal" katana. And if Junpei had as little actual training with a blade as he suspected…

_I'd better watch my own back. Never know where he might swing that thing, in his enthusiasm._

* * *

Late Night/Dark Hour

* * *

_Okay, I admit it: even I didn't expect _this._ Congratulations, Senpai, you have stumped the amateur detective._

The five Persona users of SEES had taken the monorail for part of the journey from the dorm, and walked the rest of the way; sensible from Minato's point of view, since any transport would be rendered completely useless once the Dark Hour began. If they'd managed to get caught in transit… _Come to think of it, some methods of transport might actually be impossible to exit during the Dark Hour. Anything with electronic doors…_

It was fortunate Port Island didn't have much of a nightlife. Minato's own blade was once again playing walking stick, and Akihiko's gloves were reasonably innocuous, but the same could _not_ be said of the enormous katana tucked into Junpei's belt, the heavy bow slung over Yukari's shoulder, or the elegant rapier clipped to Mitsuru's side.

Or the Evokers each wore holstered on waist or thigh. They might not technically be proper firearms, but as Minato could attest, that fact was not apparent at first glance.

_And after the kind of school violence around the world the past decade or so, people would look askance at five teenagers going armed for bear… to Gekkokan High, at midnight._

"What the hell?" Junpei blurted, when the school gates came into view. "_This_ is the place?" He turned to Akihiko in confusion. "What the hell are we doing _here,_ Senpai?"

For once, Minato agreed with Junpei. _Okay, yeah, just about any teenager will agree that a school is a place of great evil. But… a nest of Shadows? I knew things here in Port Island were strange, but this is just bizarre. What is this, a video game? Have I really been sucked into _Sailor Moon_ after all?_

Akihiko just smiled, looking at his watch. "Give it a few minutes, Junpei. It's almost time for the Dark Hour… I think you'll be impressed."

_Well, _that_ shouldn't be hard._

Mitsuru shot Minato a glance, one with a surprising degree of amusement in it; she'd caught the look on his face. "I'll be interested in your… deductions, Arisato," she remarked, smiling slightly. "Perhaps you'll be able to tell us something more about this, once you've seen it with your own eyes."

_Translation: even I'm expected to be stumped. And even if she doesn't know exactly who I am, she must've gotten a very good idea of my deductive reasoning the night I officially joined SEES._ Minato shrugged mentally, and leaned on his concealed blade.

_Okay. Bring it._

They didn't have long to wait. The numbers on Akihiko's digital watch flickered onward, and the ticking of Minato's antique pocket watch made for a tangible accounting of the passage of time… and then Akihiko's watch faded to darkness.

The sky turned green. The moon turned an eerie yellow. Water turned to blood, and bystanders in the distance vanished, replaced by hovering, silent coffins.

Beyond the gate ahead of them, Gekkokan High School changed.

It was an unreal spectacle, something totally alien. The buildings of the school suddenly warped, literally flowing in a way that defied rational sense, twisting and pulling together, and stretching up toward the sky; what had once been several low buildings and odds and ends of architecture congealed into a single mass, an absolute riot of geometries that made the onlooker sick with vertigo and a sense of unreality.

Minato Arisato, one who remained calm even when presented with the Dark Hour without warning, one who fought and defeated Shadows on instinct alone on his first encounter, the newly-formed team's bastion of sarcasm, stared in open awe.

When the twisted, alien tower that had once been their school ceased moving, solidifying into a misshapen finger seeming to reach to the very Moon, his first reaction was not his most eloquent.

"_Damn."_

Mitsuru, who had been watching the faces of the new recruits more than the tower's appearance, allowed herself another small smile. _So even you can be taken off guard, Arisato. It just takes a big enough shock, hm? How long, I wonder, before your mask reasserts itself…_

"Well," Minato said after a moment, banishing the awe from his expression, "how 'bout that?" He glanced at Junpei, the latter still gaping like a fish. "Do we get Roland for backup? I've never stormed the Dark Tower before."

Akihiko snickered, and even Mitsuru made a small, almost inaudible sound of amusement. She would've been annoyed by the junior's apparent flippancy, but the experience of a previous night had made her quite sure of the mind that lay behind the snark.

_However sarcastic he may actually be,_ she mused, _at least some of it is to hide whatever's going on beneath the surface._

"This," she said now, drawing attention back to herself, "is Tartarus. A labyrinth full of Shadows, which reveals itself only in the hidden hour. Now you know why no one else has heard of it, Iori."

"Yeah, but…" Junpei shook his head, eyes wide. "Labyrinth…? What the hell are you _talking_ about? The hell happened to our _school?_ This is _crazy!"_

_No arguments here._ Minato shifted his weight off his blade, and flipped it up to rest on one shoulder.

"It is definitely peculiar," Mitsuru admitted levelly. "And once the Dark Hour is over, this will return to normal, as if Tartarus was never even here. Everything in the school will be exactly as it was before the Dark Hour began."

"Okay, I get that, but…" Junpei sputtered, unable to form his next baffled inquiry.

Behind his shield of sarcasm and mask-like expression, Minato's thoughts were racing furiously. _There is something very, very strange going on here. This "Dark Hour" seems to be localized to the Iwatodai/Port Island area; the idea that I entered it for the first time the night I arrived here by sheer coincidence just doesn't cut it. This crack in time is specific to this place, somehow…_

_Not sure I want to know what would happen if you left this geographical area just before the end of the Dark Hour. Brr…_

_And on top of that, the _school_ is what forms Tartarus? That seems… awfully specific. It's too neat; everything within the school grounds, up to about where the observatory is, gets pulled into that tower, and _nothing_ outside that radius? No… that's _not_ random._

"So this is the 'nest' you guys spoke of," Minato said at length. His gaze, quietly inquisitive, landed on Mitsuru. "So why the school? Why does _this_ compound, of all places, form a giant tower full of creepy things?"

She didn't reply.

After a long moment, Minato nodded. "You don't know either?"

"…No."

_You're hiding something. I wonder what? You seem sincere about fighting the Shadows, so what might you want to keep from us? …All right. Keep your secrets, Senpai. Unless it's a danger to us, it won't really matter, and sooner or later, I'll probably find the truth anyway._

"It's probably something just as weird and nonsensical as the Dark Hour itself," Yukari interjected irritably, speaking for the first time since they'd arrived at the school gates. "Anyway, what does it matter? It's not like it would change what we have to do right now, right?"

_Defending Mitsuru-senpai? I'm kind of surprised, coming from you, Yukari. On the other hand, you've got a point._

"Well now," Akihiko said, smiling, "it _is_ a valid question. And maybe now we'll find out, eh? Mitsuru and I have only gone a little ways in, just taken a peek at the maze that lurks inside. Tonight will be the first true journey inside… Exciting, isn't it? There's bound to be some kind of clue to the nature of the Dark Hour, in this nest of Shadows…"

_Translation: you'll get to beat a lot of eldritch abominations to a pulp. Okay, I'm cool with that; this'll be the best stress relief I've had in years._

Mitsuru sighed. "Akihiko," she said sternly. "I respect your enthusiasm, but please remember your injury. You'll have your chance soon enough."

The boxer's smile vanished. "Tch. I know, I know… you don't have to remind me…"

* * *

The interior of the tower was just as strange as the exterior, just with fewer alien geometries. It was, Minato reflected, very much like he'd expect the entranceway of some strange dungeon in an RPG to look like, reinforcing his increasing feeling of being trapped in an anime.

A circular room, with a checkered pattern on the floor, ringed with pillars supporting the ceiling. A strange device sat off to one side, some kind of inverted U-shape with a glowing floor panel in front of it; and, off to one side, Minato could see a blue door hanging a few inches above the floor, surrounded by a soft glow.

He had a strange feeling he knew exactly what the door was… especially since, from the looks of things, he was the only one who noticed it.

Everyone else was looking directly ahead, down the blue carpet that led up a staircase in the center of the room, terminating in front of a huge golden circle set in the wall. In the center of the circle, at the top of the stairs themselves, was a set of large doors, somehow reminding Minato of the dorm's entrance.

"Wow," Junpei breathed, gawking at the alien sights. "The outside is weird… and the inside ain't any more normal. Cool…"

"It's creepy, is what it is," Yukari opined, gazing uneasily at the staircase; she looked like she was about to go for her bow. Or her Evoker. "This place is just…"

"This is only the entrance," Mitsuru stated, nodding at the doors at the top of the stairs. "The labyrinth that seems to form the bulk of Tartarus lies beyond those doors; the rest of the tower is very different from what you see here."

Akihiko nodded in agreement. "We never got beyond the first couple of floors, though, so we don't have much information beyond that. That's why all of you are here tonight… to see what we couldn't. Why don't you go have a look around for yourselves?"

Yukari started, whirling to face him. "Huh? By ourselves? Like, alone?"

"We're not asking you to go far," Mitsuru assured her. "It's only the start of the investigation, after all. And I'll be feeding you information from here."

_Makes sense. No sense sending everybody in at once; that's just plain not smart._

"So," Junpei began, fingering his enormous blade with a mix of anxiety and anticipation, "you two weren't planning on coming in the first place?"

_Brilliant, Junpei. You didn't think maybe there was a _reason_ they waited till they had additional Persona users before going in? Of _course_ we were going to leave some people here. Otherwise they wouldn't have waited any longer than when Yukari joined the team._

"It's not a very good idea to send in everyone at once," Akihiko said patiently, and winced. "As everyone keeps reminding me, I'm not recovered enough to go in yet, and Mitsuru needs to stay here as mission control, if you will." He smiled. "Of course, support can only do so much from a distance, so one of you will be in charge of the exploration itself."

Junpei's face lit up. "Really? One of us? Ooh! Come on! Pick me! Me me me! I can do it!"

Minato exchanged a look with Yukari. _If Junpei is leading us, I think I'd rather commit seppuku right here and now,_ he thought. _Him, as leader? …Sorry, Junpei, but while I think you'll probably do okay fighting, I don't think you're really leadership material…_

From Akihiko's expression, the boxer was thinking much the same thing. He looked at Junpei, winced very slightly, and glanced over the other two juniors. With only a few moments deliberation, he nodded at one of them. "…You're in charge, Minato. Think you can handle it?"

Minato, not particularly surprised, tapped his sheathed blade on his shoulder. "I'll give it my best shot, Senpai."

"W-wait," Junpei protested, looking from senior to junior. "_Him?_ C'mon, Senpai, Minato doesn't look like a leader! I mean, no offense, but he's lookin' kinda sleepy here…"

Yukari, remembering the calm Junpei referred to being paired with the utter slaughter of several Shadows, glanced over at Junpei. "I agree with Akihiko-senpai," she said, shaking her head. "Minato's already fought Shadows before, Junpei, and we haven't." _Not successfully,_ she added silently.

Junpei's head snapped around. "No kiddin?" He took another look at his fellow junior, trying to see from his posture and the stick he casually rested on one shoulder the kind of skill and power needed to fight Shadows one-on-one.

"That's not the only reason," Akihiko noted, and drew his Evoker. "Minato not only fought them, he summoned his Persona without hesitation, and without even really knowing what was going on." He tapped the muzzle against his temple. "Can either of you say the same?"

"O-of course I can!" Junpei declared, a cocky grin on his face. It looked forced, though, and a slight shake in the hand gripping his katana belied his bold words.

_Bravado, Junpei. All well and good to put up a brave face, but bravado in the face of danger is… not good. If you can't back it up, it'll just backfire. Trust me… I know._

"…I think I can," Yukari said after a moment, looking much less confident than Junpei tried to appear. "But…"

Akihiko spun his Evoker around one finger, and slipped it back into its holster. "These are Shadows we're talking about here," he said quietly. "Your power extends to the weapons you use to some extent, allowing them to harm Shadows, but if you can't actually _summon_ your Persona at need… you're dead."

There really wasn't much to say to that. Even Junpei shifted his feet uneasily, and made no more protest.

Silence fell for several moments, while Mitsuru began to set up some equipment she'd brought, Akihiko found a place to stand against one of the pillars so as to rest his wounded side, and the three juniors took the time to check their weapons. Yukari unslung her bow, carefully checking its string and pulleys, and shifted the quiver on her back; Junpei drew his oversized katana from its scabbard, and gave it an experimental swing.

Minato… began stretching. An experienced martial artist, he knew the importance of getting the body ready before the kind of exertion exploration of Tartarus would involve. He hadn't had the opportunity before his first encounter with Shadows, but he'd be damned if he'd skip it when he _did_ have time.

Junpei paused in his own prep to look at him curiously. "What is that, Yoga or something?"

"Or something," Minato replied, not bothering to pause. "It's always a good idea to stretch before running up stairs, through unfamiliar corridors, and carving chunks out of creepy monsters."

"Huh. …Carving chunks out with what, exactly?" The hat-wearing student gave the "walking stick" a skeptical look. "Is that really all you got? You just gonna beat the Shadows up or somethin'?"

Finishing the basic exercises, Minato straightened. "Not exactly," he said, smiling, and with a minute twist, pulled the blade free from its disguised scabbard.

_Oh, I wish I had a camera with me,_ Minato thought wistfully, watching Junpei's jaw attempt to reach the floor. _That's just priceless._

"Didn't I see you carrying that to school the day you got out of the hospital?" Junpei managed, retrieving his jaw before it could shatter on the floor (it did resemble marble, after all). "You mean… you actually brought a freakin' _sword_ to school with you?"

"I take her most places," Minato replied easily, tucking the scabbard into his belt. "Guy like me, sometimes there are people who want to… chastise me. Rather sternly. Since I find their criticism unwarranted, I prefer to have an effective counterargument."

Junpei blinked, looking closely at Minato's face. Apparently failing to find any sign of humor -and other than the phrasing, Minato _was_ dead serious- he shook his head. "Right. Okay. How about we get this show on the road, huh?"

"I agree," Mitsuru said, straightening. "My instruments are all set. You can begin when you're ready."

Exchanging quick glances, the juniors fell into a loose formation, and made their way up the stairs. The moment that had been approaching since Minato first entered the Dark Hour had arrived: entering the den of those who stalked the hour of darkness. No longer merely defending against attack, SEES would take the fight directly to the abominations' origin point.

"Hey, Minato," Yukari asked, as they neared the large doors, "you called that sword 'her'. Does that mean it -er, she- has a name? I know some people name swords…"

Minato nodded, very slowly. "Yes," he said quietly, reaching for the knob of the right-hand door. "She does." He grasped the doorknob, twisted, and pushed; and as he swung open the door into the demon's den, he said one word:

"Eurydice."

* * *

Author's note:

* * *

Hm. Under two months; not a bad update speed for me, of late. Maybe taking a break from all the _Gundam_ writing is doing me some good…

Well. Some definite foreshadowing in this one (not that I'm going to say what's _being_ foreshadowed, naturally), and hints at this version of Minato's history. That's going to be important later on, in certain personal relationships.

Also, readers may notice the absence of the Velvet Room sequence just before entering Tartarus proper; I didn't forget it, I just didn't think it fit very well there. Under the circumstances, Minato just wandering off to one side seems a little… odd, so it'll occur instead on the way _out_ of Tartarus, when everyone's tired and not as observant.

Finally, since the question's been asked and this is one plot point I do _not_ want obscured -I know I've been annoyed in the past by thinking a story was going to have one pairing, only for it to have a different one in the end- as the character filter for this story suggests, this _is_ going to be a Minato/Mitsuru fic. That was one of the reasons I started it in the first place: there just aren't enough stories pairing them, so I'll just do it myself.

I think that about covers everything this time. I ask your continued patience as I find the right balance between word-for-word and original dialogue, and hope everyone enjoys the chapter. -Solid


	3. Chapter III: Creatures of Chaos

Monday, April 20, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Normally, stepping through a door was a fairly mundane experience. Even entering Tartarus' entrance foyer had adhered to that rule, with the outer door leading, as expected, into the interior, its threshold crossed with an ordinary stride.

Going from the foyer to the _true_ interior was a completely different story.

Minato's foot came down, and he started in surprise. After stepping into the darkness beyond the doors of Tartarus' foyer, the scene around him changed completely; not only had the darkness before him been replaced by light, but the very door he'd stepped through, and the foyer behind him, had vanished completely.

Yukari and Junpei, both a pace behind him, seemed to materialize from the air to either side. "W-what the hell?" the latter blurted. "Where'd the door go?" He paused, taking in their surroundings "Hell… where'd _we_ go?"

"Good question," Yukari agreed uneasily, slowly sweeping her gaze around. "I wasn't expecting _this…"_

_Me either,_ Minato thought, tightening his grip on Eurydice. _But only the transition was really a surprise. The décor… that's no weirder than what I've already seen of this "Dark Tower"._

The door they'd passed through was gone, and by extension the entrance foyer. In its place was a long corridor, branching in places, with simple checkerboard flooring, occasionally broken by ornate circles. The walls were only slightly odder, occasionally having the appearance of windows; Minato suspected he didn't want to know what was on the other side.

By now, the occasional pools of blood on the floor were almost reassuring. That much, at least, he'd come to expect from something born of the Dark Hour.

Minato sniffed at the air, half-expecting the distinctive smell of death. Whatever Tartarus was, it wasn't something that belonged in the living world.

The team had barely had a chance to take in the corridor's appearance when static crackled, prompting Junpei to almost jump out of his skin. _"Can everyone hear me?" _Mitsuru's voice said, out of thin air.

"Whoa! That's a neat trick!"

Minato ignored him. "Loud and clear, Senpai. Interesting ability there," he added.

"_Thank you," _she said dryly._ "Penthesilea's primary talents lie elsewhere, but this has its uses. Thanks to that, I can provide you with audio backup from here."_

Junpei whistled. "Not too shabby! Ya mean ya can actually see inside here, Senpai?"

"_Penthesilea is more suited for combat overall, but she does have limited observational capabilities," _Mitsuru confirmed. She sighed._ "I'd like to accompany you, but unfortunately Tartarus' layout changes on a day to day basis. With such unpredictable architecture, outside support is critical."_

"This castle is a creature of chaos," Minato murmured. "It may take many incarnations…"

There was a brief hesitation on the other end, during which he could almost see the look on Mitsuru's face as she tried to puzzle out the comment. Apparently giving up, she continued, _"You've now entered the true main structure of Tartarus. Therefore, you can expect to encounter Shadows very soon now, so be on your guard. They shouldn't be too tough this low in the tower, however; I suggest you take this as an opportunity to practice your skills."_

"Usus magister est optimus," Minato remarked, spinning Eurydice, keeping his wrist loose.

Mitsuru chuckled. _"Exactly. Now, let's begin; for tonight, start by eliminating all the Shadows on the first floor. Good luck."_

Junpei grinned. "You got it, Senpai. Say, Minato," he added, turning to the designated "leader" of the team, "you play _Castlevania,_ huh?"

Minato shrugged, already beginning to move forward. "When I have the time. I like the ambiance…"

"Heh, heh, that's just like you…" The other student poked his oversize katana around a corner, following it with his head a moment later. "But say, what was that thing you said after that…? Ursus something?"

"Usus," Yukari corrected with a sigh; she was following a few paces behind the boys, keeping between them. A better position, she figured, for an archer. "Ursus would be a bear. He said 'practice makes perfect'." She shook her head. "You and Mitsuru-senpai seem to understand each other pretty well, Minato."

"Nah," Minato demurred, leading them around a corner. "Similar education, mostly. Right now, we're playing cat and mouse, sparring for information…"

He trailed off, and conversation lapsed. They'd ventured some meters from the place they'd entered from; even Junpei recognized the need to keep a closer eye on their surroundings now. Contact with Shadows was doubtless only a matter of time, and probably not much of it.

They proceeded in silence for a couple of minutes. The atmosphere inside Tartarus was not as oppressive as might have been expected, but it was definitely eerie; Minato had a perpetual feeling of otherworldliness from his surroundings. The architecture wasn't as bizarre as he'd expected, at least in terms of layout, but there was still something _wrong_ about it, something alien.

_This place is _not_ of this world,_ he thought, ghosting along with soft, even footsteps. _A Dark Tower… a Demon Castle. I don't think I'll be surprised if we _do_ find Dracula in here somewhere._

Improbably, Minato smiled. _The world of the Day has become mundane, over the last few centuries. It's the Night that still holds mysteries… still holds challenges that are worth taking on. This is why Naoto is the true heir to the family, not me… Mysteries of the mundane just can't hold my interest._

The quiet of their exploration was broken by another burst of static. _"Be on guard!" _Mitsuru said sharply._ "I'm detecting Shadows a few meters ahead of you… Two or three, I'm not entirely sure. Watch yourselves!"_

"On it, Senpai," Minato acknowledged… just as an arrow shot past his right ear.

Yukari's preemptive strike hit dead center, impaling the middle of three Shadows a little ways down the corridor they were in. Much like those that had attacked the dorm the previous week, these were masses of blue-masked black, wielding knives in their too-many hands.

Well, two of them were. The third was gurgling, bleeding smoke, and clutching at the shaft impaling its mask.

The brunette nocked another arrow, but held off from releasing it; her companions were already heading in, leading with their weapons. Minato's stance, as before, was practiced and professional. Junpei's… managed to avoid knocking his own head off somehow, despite his reckless advance.

Minato whipped his head to one side just as he got within reach, letting a knife skim past. A flick of his wrist batted a second aside, and then he was jumping over a third attack. The Shadow thrust up with a fourth, aiming for his groin; a hasty balance shift took him out of danger from that, and as he landed, his sword came down ahead of him, stabbing at the Shadow's face. He missed, striking instead what passed for the creature's neck, but a quick yank fixed that; Eurydice ripped up and out through its mask.

Like Yukari's target, Minato's dissolved into smoke, but he had no time to admire the process. Catching a flash of metal out of the corner of his eye, he hastily ducked, evading the errant blow headed for his neck; a grunt of pain from Junpei suggested what had happened.

Turning, he saw Junpei flinch back from a shallow but painful slice across his face. To his credit, he didn't let it stop him, and his revenge was a swift horizontal slash with his katana. For all that the blow looked remarkably like an attempt to hit a homerun, it did its job, lopping the Shadow's "head" clean off; the blue mask flew free, crashed into a wall, and shattered on the floor.

"Woo-hoo!" Junpei cried, shaking a fist in victory. "Got one!"

Minato thought back on Junpei's… less than expert attack, and opened his mouth. Glancing back at the broken, fading mask fragments, though, he shut it again. _What the hell,_ he decided. _So it's not kendo. Well, these monsters ain't professional swordsmen, either. If it works, why worry about the details?_

"_Excellent work," _Mitsuru interjected._ "That's a good-"_

A noise off to Minato's left interrupted her, and he drew his Evoker on pure instinct. "Orpheus!" he snapped, twirling the pistol up to rest against his temple. "Burn it down!"

The Evoker barked, and the musician Orpheus complied with the instruction, unleashing a burst of what Minato instinctively knew to be Agi fire against the Shadow attempting to sneak up on them. Lighting the knife-wielding abomination on fire well out of blade range, Orpheus' wrath made short work of it.

"…_Well done," _Mitsuru said after a moment, prompting a quiet snort of amusement from Minato._ "…As I was saying, that's an excellent start. Now… Somewhere on that floor, you should find a staircase leading to a higher level. I don't want you using it this time, but find it anyway, and keep it in mind for your next visit."_

"Roger that."

Yukari trotted over to rejoin the melee fighters. "Whew," she said, releasing the tension on her bow. "Well, at least now we know we can do it."

"Hell, yeah!" Junpei agreed, grinning. "Hey, Minato, next time gimme a chance to try _my_ Persona, huh? That fireball was cool!"

Minato allowed himself a smile of his own. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, it was…"

He didn't remark on the shallow cut on Junpei's face. It didn't really occur to him to. _This is what I've been looking for. It's mysterious, it's alien… and it's dangerous. Those knives they've got are as real and as deadly as a Yakuza's blade in the Daylight world._

_It's perfect. After all, a challenge that doesn't put your very life on the line isn't worth taking on at all. A man is most alive… when he's staring Death in the eyes._

* * *

The next few minutes went with little incident, the trio of SEES members making their way through Tartarus' hallways with growing confidence. The architecture may have been chaotic overall, but Minato was relieved to find it at least didn't seem to change during a given trip through one of the tower's floors. The décor might have been _strange,_ but it wasn't actively shifting on them.

_And Junpei's proving more capable than I'd feared,_ Minato noted, watching the other finish off a Shadow with a burst of Agi flame. _His swordsmanship is crude, but effective… and he's doing better at summoning Hermes than I expected. I wonder if his attitude toward all this is just… different enough from the rest of us?_

"Not bad, Junpei," Yukari allowed, lowering her bow again; she looked mildly nonplussed. "I guess we all might pull this off after all."

Junpei laughed. "'Course we will, Yuka-tan! The three of us, and Akihiko-senpai when he's ready for action, won't have any trouble tearing these guys apart!"

Minato yanked his blade free of a Shadow, and shook his free hand. It was still tingling a little, courtesy of his introduction to the concept of elemental attacks and weaknesses; being blindsided by a lightning bolt hadn't made his evening. _Still. I'd be suspicious if this were _too_ easy…_

He was just lowering Eurydice and turning back to his teammates, preparing to move along, when he felt a strange sensation in his head; almost a feeling or sound of shattering glass, like some kind of barrier had been broken down…

_**Master…**_

Junpei and Yukari both turned at the sound of solid objects hitting one another, just in time to see Minato bounce off the wall he'd jumped back into. "Hey! What happened?" Yukari demanded, starting to rush to his side.

He held up his hand. "Wait. I'm okay, just… just a little surprised."

The other two exchanged a nervous glance. Minato had reacted with aplomb to being thrust into the Dark Hour unexpectedly, handled his first encounter with Shadows with panache, and after his initial surprise at the appearance of Tartarus seemed to be genuinely _enjoying_ their current mission. For him to react so visibly with shock -to something they couldn't even see- was… discomforting.

Minato ignored them. _Thanks,_ he thought. _I needed that heart attack… Let me guess: you're another Persona?_

_**Thou art I, and I am thou, **_the voice in the back of his mind replied, seeming amused. _**As Orpheus answered your call, Master, so have I. I am Pixie, and I am at your command. Let me sooth thy wounds, my Master…**_

_Well. The plot thickens… again. I can't say I'm especially surprised, though, after what happened the first time I summoned Orpheus. You know anything about that?_

_**That one…**_ Pixie's mental tone went from amused to strangely reserved. _**That facet of your soul… I don't understand his appearance that night, Master. A sane mind has something resembling order to it, Master, and accordingly something like him shouldn't have awakened yet. Shouldn't have appeared without even being called.**_

_Hm. Fair enough; I'm you, you're me, makes sense you wouldn't have answers I don't. Fine. I'll ask Igor next time I see him. In the meantime…_

By now, his friends were starting to look at him uneasily. "Um… Minato?" Junpei said carefully. "You sure you're all right, buddy?"

Minato shook himself. "Yeah, sorry. I was just having a chat with an unexpected guest."

"Unexpected guest…?" Yukari repeated, anything but reassured. Then, "Wait a second. Orpheus wouldn't be unexpected… but there was that thing that took out the first Shadow you faced. Was that…?"

"Not him," he said, shaking his head. "New one. Just a second." Setting aside Eurydice for a moment, Minato lifted his other hand, concentrated, and a pair of cards right out of a Tarot deck materialized in his grasp. Shifting the card bearing Orpheus' likeness behind the new card displaying Pixie, he promptly banished them again.

Junpei whistled, eyes wide. "You've got _multiple_ Personas, Minato? No way! That's… awesome!"

"Maybe more than you think," the other swordsman said wryly, reaching for his Evoker. "That cut on your face still bothering you?"

"Huh?" He blinked at the apparent non sequitur. "Uh… yeah, it kinda stings. Why…?"

_You weren't just being metaphorical, I take it?_

A giggle. _**Allow me, my Master.**_

Minato drew the Evoker, put it to his temple, and fired, summoning the insubstantial, winged form of Pixie, much as he'd called Orpheus before. But instead of the burning flames he'd conjured in battle, Pixie sent a wash of cool energy over Junpei's body.

The shallow slice taken out of his face by a Shadow's knife faded, knitting itself together as if it had never been wounded in the first place.

Junpei touched the place where the cut had been in disbelief. "Whoa…" he breathed. "Cool…!"

Yukari stared at Minato, wide-eyed. "Switching Personas just like that, and healing powers…? Minato, you…"

"_That's a great discovery," _Mitsuru said, speaking for the first time since their primary exploration had begun._ "Takeba's right, Arisato. The implications of this…" She paused. "We'll discuss it more thoroughly at a later time. Right now, the Dark Hour is approaching its end, and I'm sure all of you are getting tired. There seem to be fewer Shadows than usual tonight, as well… So. There should be an Access Point somewhere on that floor; it's a device that will teleport you back to the entrance. Find it, and return here."_

"Got it, Senpai." Minato picked up his sword again, and pushed away from the wall. "Okay, let's go. I hear my bed calling me already."

"You and me both," Yukari sighed, shaking her head. "I've had about enough excitement for one night."

* * *

The transition back to the entrance foyer wasn't nearly as jarring, despite being fully as abrupt as their entry into Tartarus' interior. Both were some form of teleportation, but it seemed to Minato that jumping from one place to another without physical movement wasn't _quite_ as strange as the world changing from one step to the next.

"Welcome back," Mitsuru said, once the team had materialized. "Good work, all of you." She looked at Minato. "So, how was it? Your first controlled experience in the Dark Hour, that is. Are you comfortable leading a team under these conditions?"

He nodded, sliding Eurydice back into her scabbard. "I think I can handle it," he said. "Leadership is a little new to me, but it's nothing I can't deal with… And I'm pretty confident of my ability to handle the fighting."

She nodded thoughtfully. _That fits. We already knew he could fight, and I had a feeling his level head would help him deal with Takeba and Iori. Looks like Akihiko made the right choice to lead the team…_

"That's probably the best result we could've gotten from the first expedition, then," she said aloud. "Knowing that you're all up to the task, we can begin proper exploration of Tartarus over the next few nights."

Junpei grinned. "All right, I like it! Man, what a rush… We rocked!" Sheathing his big katana, he leaned back against one of the support pillars, some of his enthusiasm rapidly dissipating. "But… whew. I never knew I had that kind of power inside. It's great and all… and now I'm _bushed."_

Yukari, tucking her bow into a carry bag, shook her head. "Bouncing around like a kid will do that, Junpei. Not to mention how you went off at those Shadows with wild abandon."

He snorted. "You don't look very lively yourself, Yuka-tan."

"…I _am_ still trying to catch my breath," she conceded. "That trip took a lot out of me, too, I guess."

"It's the effect of the Dark Hour." Akihiko straightened from where he'd been leaning against another pillar, dozing. "Don't know why, but it has some kind of effect on the human body; you'll become fatigued more easily during this time. You'll adapt, though, once you've spent enough time fighting through it."

_Suits me,_ Minato thought. _Between playing detective and fighting abominations from the netherworld, this year should be pretty damn fun._

Mitsuru chuckled. "They did surprisingly well for their first time, you have to admit. At this rate, they'll catch up to _you,_ Akihiko."

The boxer snorted. "Yeah? We'll see about _that_ when my injury's healed."

"At any rate," Mitsuru said, turning back to the field team, "we'll head back to the dorm soon. I just need to pack up the instruments; I suggest you all rest for a few minutes while I do that. Oh, and Arisato," she added, "tomorrow after school I'd like to discuss tonight's developments with you."

Minato nodded. "Got it, Senpai."

_And in the meantime,_ he mused, as the others' attention drifted away, _I'll see about finding some more information on my own. Time for a little investigating…_

Glancing casually about to make sure no one was paying attention, Minato ambled over to the other side of the room, as though stretching his legs after the exertion. Along the way, he pulled a small object out of his pocket, and had it ready in his hand when he reached the object of his interest.

He'd noticed the free-standing blue door on first arrival, along with the fact that he seemed to be the only one who could see it. Putting together the color with its oddity -even for Tartarus- and it wasn't hard for him to figure out what it probably was. A hypothesis easily tested by fitting the Velvet Key he'd obtained over a week before into the door's lock.

The door swung open…

* * *

The now-familiar backdrop of the Velvet Room greeted Minato's eyes on the other side of the door. Still ascending to its unknown destination, there still remained the table, the chairs, and the inhabitants. Igor and Elizabeth were in their accustomed places, as if waiting for a guest.

_No mystery there._

"Welcome back, my dear young man," Igor greeted, with his usual smile. "I've been waiting for you."

"You did say I'd be coming of my own volition soon enough," Minato said wryly, crossing to the chair opposite the long-nosed man. "I'm beginning to see how some of this works, at least… None of the others seemed to even notice the door leading here."

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Naturally not. The Velvet Room is open only to guests, those with… special characteristics. Only the guests can see the door, and enter through it. You need not fear them noticing your absence," she added. "Time passes in this place, but not in the same manner as in your world; a short visit here will scarcely be noticed."

_That's reassuring. This is one thing I'd really rather not try to explain to Mitsuru-senpai just now…_

"Well," Igor said, bringing the conversation back on point, "I see the time has come. You've finally begun to put your power to use… and begun to see the mysteries at the heart of this matter."

Minato leaned back in the hard-backed chair. "Indeed. Like this 'Dark Tower'. What is it, anyway? Where the hell did it come from… and why? I don't think something like this is random; the universe isn't _that_ disorderly…" He raised an eyebrow knowingly. "You're not going to answer those questions, though."

"You are indeed a perceptive guest," Igor said approvingly, clasping his hands on the table. "You are correct: those are questions I cannot answer. Some things, my dear Minato, are meant to be discovered by one's own will… some answers are not meant to be simply handed out. Alas, you are not yet capable of finding those answers yourself, but you have set foot on the road that _will_ lead you to them, in time."

"Good enough." _I don't want the answers handed to me on a platter anyway. Where's the fun in that? There'd be no meaning to my being here if things were that easy._

_Easy answers aren't worth anything. That which you do not struggle for has no meaning… and challenges that do not test your strength do not test your limits, either. Without struggle, there's no growth, and with no growth, you can't protect what matters…_

"There is one question I have," Minato said at length, "that perhaps you _can_ answer."

"About your power?" Igor replied, smiling. "Yes… you've noticed it by now. You, my dear Minato, possess the Wild Card, the rarest of Persona abilities. Your power is much like the number zero: empty by itself, but representing infinite possibility. You, alone of your group, have the power to summon _multiple_ Personas, and summon them according to your need."

Minato nodded. _About what I thought. Nothing new there… So. Orpheus, whatever the hell that thing the first night was, and Pixie… Not a bad start._

A giggle in the back of his mind. _**Why, thank you, Master…**_

"Your power is still in its infancy," Igor mused, gaze taking on a faraway quality. "You already know your bonds with others will affect the growth of your power; continuing to test your limits, physically and mentally, will also play a role. As you face your enemies and grow stronger, other facets of yourself will awaken within your psyche, and come to heed your call."

"I noticed that, during the exploration of the Tower. Disorienting, but nothing I can't get used to… and valuable, I'm sure." Minato tilted his head. "I've been meaning to ask: do you know anything about what happened to me the night I first used Persona? The second entity that appeared…"

Igor slowly shook his head. "There are some questions, my boy," he said quietly, "that I not only cannot answer, but truly do not _have_ the answer to. You, and you alone, know the depths of your own psyche. Anything that is born of you will be yours to grasp the nature of."

"…I see." _Just as well. It'd be damn _creepy_ if Igor knew that much about what went on in my head. This just means I'll have to seek answers elsewhere… perhaps converse with other Personas as they awaken._

_Heh. Good thing I haven't been to a shrink since just after… I don't really want to know what they'd say about me talking to anthropomorphic representations of portions of my own subconscious. Especially the implications of apparently having so _many_ disparate entities in there…_

Igor cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, my spare time will soon be scarce; I have other responsibilities, as a resident of the Velvet Room… But, feel free to come here again, of your own accord. When the time is right, I will inform you of my true role, the way in which I can best assist you."

Minato nodded, and pushed himself up. "I am grateful for your assistance, Igor," he said formally, bowing slightly. "Till next we meet."

As he made for the door back to Tartarus, Elizabeth's quiet voice gave him pause. "My master may soon be busy," she said, smiling softly, "but I may be able to assist you in his place, from time to time. Remember that, should you feel the need to return here."

That enigmatic smile was, as usual, the last thing Minato saw as the Velvet Room faded from his sight, and gave him no more answers than usual.

_That woman… she always has to have the last word, even if she doesn't actually say anything…_

* * *

As Elizabeth had suggested, no one noticed Minato's absence, nor his return from the door only he could see. Mitsuru was still packing up her instruments, and the others were still generally resting as they waited.

Minato casually ambled back over to Yukari and Junpei. "Well," he said quietly, "I think we had a productive first trip here, eh?"

Junpei grinned. "Hell, yeah. We _rocked._ Y'know, I was a little worried at first… I mean, we were walking right into the monster's _nest,_ all by ourselves. But we can _totally_ take this place! Those Shadows ain't gonna stop us!"

Yukari gave him a dubious look. "We did well tonight," she conceded. "But… I wouldn't count on it being like that _all_ the time." She exchanged a look with Minato, remembering the Shadow that had attacked the dorm. His second Persona had flattened it, but they both knew it would've been much more difficult had the "Reaper" not intervened.

"It's a start," Minato said after a moment. "Proof of concept, let's say. We start at the bottom, and by the time we're at the top, we'll be strong enough to handle it."

She pursed her lips, then nodded. "You're probably right. And we did find out a couple of important things tonight, like you being able to control which Persona you use… and that Personas can heal. _That_ could be the most important result from this trip."

_She's probably right about that. I heal better than anyone I've ever known, but even I don't heal instantly… and I doubt they're as good at it as I am. Considering the hazards this Dark Tower undoubtedly has, being able to heal injuries without resorting to lengthy hospital time will be invaluable._ Minato cast a glance at Akihiko, still favoring his injured side. _We can't afford more incidents like with Akihiko-senpai, I think._

A click broke into his thoughts. "All right, then," Mitsuru announced, closing the case with her instruments, "that's it. We should head back to the dorm now." She favored the team with a small smile. "And good work tonight, everyone."

Her gaze followed them on their way to the door… or rather, followed _one_ of them. _Minato Arisato,_ Mitsuru mused. _Now I know for sure. It's not just your background that's mysterious… and I have a feeling your "special power" is going to be important._

_I just wish I knew what lay ahead that will require it._

* * *

The journey back to the dorm wasn't as unified as the departure; with the Dark Hour passed and their objective for the night accomplished, it was less conspicuous for the SEES members to drift apart somewhat. There weren't many wandering the Port Island night, but it wouldn't take much for rumors to start.

That suited Minato just fine. He was entirely confident of his ability to handle himself if anything untoward happened, and he found the darkness and cool night air helped him think. _All in all,_ he mused, _a productive evening. Fun, too. I still don't know what the hell is going on here, but… it's a start._ He glanced over his shoulder at the place he'd left, once again an ordinary school instead of a twisted riot of alien architecture. _The Dark Tower… I sure called _that_ right._

A soft expression of amusement echoed in the back of his mind. _**Pithy, Master,**_ Pixie remarked. _**Dark Tower, creature of chaos… You seem to have a clever remark for everything.**_

_And you talk a lot,_ Minato shot back, stuffing his hands in his pockets. _Any particular reason I haven't heard anything much out of Orpheus?_

_**That one doesn't seem much of a talker, Master. Considering what that facet of you -or should that be us?- is named for… I suspect you understand what he represents.**_

He grimaced. _Paging Doctor Freud… Yes, I see your point._

The silent conversation lapsed, Minato sinking into more private reflections; the quiet sound of his footsteps along the street was an adequate accompaniment. He was beginning to think that the more he figured out about himself, the more answers he'd have about the situation as a whole. Persona was somehow central to it all, and Persona was but a facet of the user's mind.

**Thump.** Igor. **Thump.** Elizabeth. **Thump.** The Shadows. **Thump.** Persona. **Thump.** The Kirijo Group. **Thump.** The collection of souls that had been gathered into SEES…

_Tell me what you think,_ Minato thought at length. _You know as well as I do the trauma in my past. Yukari lost her father to… something… in this town. Akihiko-senpai seems to have his own baggage, and Mitsuru-senpai is damn well hiding something she doesn't want to talk about. That's four Persona users with dysfunctions. Am I alone in seeing a pattern here?_

_**We don't yet know anything about Junpei's background, so there could be something with him that disproves it. Conversely, he could also be the exception that proves the rule.**_ He had the mental impression of a thoughtful nod. _**Persona ability being related to having a messed-up psyche? Could be. Nothing we've seen directly contradicts the idea, and Igor -whatever the hell **_**he**_** is- could almost be seen as evidence in favor.**_

Minato repressed a smile at the Persona's curse. He wasn't sure what it said about him that a fragment of his psyche had a female self-identity, but he supposed it was no worse than having multiple such self-aware fragments in the first place. At the least, Pixie had a sense of humor, and these entities gave him something to talk to.

And bounce ideas off of. _Well, we've got time to figure things out. Sounds like all this began several years ago; I don't imagine we're going to run out of time just yet._

_**Just as well. Means you've got time to figure out how much Mitsuru knows you know she knows. And how much she knows, in general. And various other things about her…**_

_I have enough trouble on _that_ subject from Junpei, thanks,_ Minato thought, torn between annoyance and amusement. _But overall, I second that. I've had experience with her family's organization in the past, but I had no idea they were involved in something like this._ He took a deep breath of the crisp night air. _Oh, well. That just makes it all the more interesting._

_**Just so long as you don't get so "interested" that you forget to study,**_ Pixie snarked, and retreated from his immediate awareness.

The remainder of the walk was quiet, both audibly and mentally. Minato thought it healthier not to dwell on his Persona's parting shot.

* * *

Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

The contrast between the Dark Hour and the daylight world was even more noticeable to Minato now, making his way to school the day after his first visit to Tartarus. Previously, the changes, while disturbing, hadn't had a profound effect on the surroundings.

_Okay, sure,_ he thought to himself, approaching Gekkokan's gates, _the whole water turning to blood thing, and people turning into coffins, was pretty damn eerie. But at least the physical world remained essentially the same. Walls were walls, streets were streets, buildings didn't suddenly change into things out of nightmares…_

Seeing the school as its normal self in the morning light felt strange, after exploring its transmuted form in the green depths of the Dark Hour.

"Morning, Minato!" Yukari called, waiting for him by the gates with a cheery smile. "Did you sleep well?"

_After last night's weirdness?_ Minato finished mentally. "Yeah," he replied, matching her stride onto the school grounds. "It's going to take a little getting used to, but I think I can handle it."

"Me, too," she agreed. "I was afraid I was going to have nightmares after actually going inside, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, we _did_ handle things in there pretty well."

"It's easier to cope with frightening things if you know you can _fight_ them," Minato said sagely, remembering nightmares of his own, from years before. "The difference between being powerless and having power can be a big one."

Yukari looked at him sidelong. Though she wasn't as active in trying to ferret out the truth, she actually was just as curious as Mitsuru-senpai was about her new friend's past. He was, among other things, _entirely_ too calm about having to fight monsters in the dark; while Junpei's enthusiasm could be written off as simply not thinking too deeply into it, it was clear to her that that was _not_ how Minato Arisato operated.

If anything was clear about the quiet student, it was that he didn't do _anything_ without thinking it through. In that light, his own clear enthusiasm for battling Shadows suggested either strange or dark things in his past. Maybe both.

_And now _I'm_ thinking too much about things,_ Yukari thought, sighing. _I've only known him a little over a week; of course I don't know much about him yet._

"Well," she said, as they approached the doors into the main building, "there's _one_ thing today that we're going to be powerless about."

Minato glanced at her, eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"

"School assembly this morning. Speech from whoever the new student council president is and all."

"…Crud."

* * *

Minato was beginning to think of school assemblies as proof that there was a demonic entity out to get him, personally. One that knew the absolute best way to make him suffer -other than various attempted murders- was to induce terminal boredom.

On top of trying to adjust his sleeping patterns to account for Dark Hour excursions, trying to remain awake through _this_ was becoming a useful exercise in self-control.

"…That concludes the main portion of today's assembly," a third-year student was saying from the auditorium's stage. "Next we'll have a word from the Student Council…"

_Oh, joy. Apprentice bureaucrats, probably just as boring as Principal Windba…_

"…Please welcome the new President, Mitsuru Kirijo from Class 3-D."

Minato straightened out of his habitual slouch. _…On second thought, maybe this won't be so bad after all._

"Thank you," came the familiar voice, and Mitsuru walked into view, moving to the podium.

"So she did get elected," Minato heard Yukari remark quietly behind him. "Can't say I'm surprised… she's probably the most popular girl in the entire school…"

She didn't seem to understand that, and while Minato disagreed, he could see where she was coming from. _But with my background, I can't say I'm entirely surprised. She's not exactly approachable, sure, but look beyond that, and…_

Not that Yukari was especially likely to. Minato was well aware by now that Mitsuru Kirijo was not Yukari's favorite person.

"You got that right," Junpei muttered in reply to Yukari. "There's something about her, like this aura you can almost _see… 'Sides, her family_'s company owns the school, doesn't it?"

Yukari grimaced. "Thanks for reminding me…"

"As I begin my term as Student Council President," Mitsuru said, capturing Minato's attention, "I'd like to share with you my vision for the coming year."

_This I'd like to hear. Your opinion, Senpai, is bound to be more interesting than that blowhard principal's…_

"It is my firm belief that each one of us should bear the responsibility for bettering this school. However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented level of commitment."

_Hm. True enough… though possibly not the most effective message to try on a school full of teenagers._

"That is why we must restructure our daily lives, to better accommodate this lofty goal. I'd like each of you to reach deep inside, to tap into your well of motivation, reevaluate your goals and convictions… To see what is truly important. To imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the present reality around you… _That_ is the key."

…_Apologies, Senpai, but asking that of high schoolers is a tad unrealistic. If we had a school full of clones of my sister, you might get it… but hell, even _I_ don't fit the mould you're looking for._

"I'm certain all of you have your own visions of the future; I want you to share them, so that the whole that is produced from that will be the sum of the best of us. For us to reap the full benefits of our education, your visions of the future, your dedication, and your participation… All are essential." Mitsuru swept her gaze over the audience of students. "Thank you."

"Dang," Junpei said, under cover of what Minato considered a surprising amount of applause. "That was… actually pretty freaking amazing!" He paused, turning to look at Minato. "So… can you tell me what in the world she just said?"

"Depends," Minato said dryly. "How are you with big words?"

"…Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought." Junpei shook his head. "Sure didn't sound like something a high schooler would say. If it were anyone else, we'd just be laughin' ourselves sick. But hey," he said, grinning suddenly, "you didn't say you _couldn't_ explain it. You actually understood it, eh?"

"That surprises you?"

"Not a bit! But y'know, I'm startin' to think it's a shame you're in different years, Minato." Junpei's grin widened. "And that you're, y'know… not quite in her 'class'."

Minato sighed, even as Yukari smacked the hat-wearing idiot over the head. _It is _not_ like that, buddy. And for your information, she and I aren't actually that different, socially speaking; I just like to keep a lower profile._

_Still. I have to admit I'm kind of disappointed in Senpai this time. That speech was all well and good, but it's really wasted on this audience. Most of 'em are typical teenagers, more concentrated on their dating lives than "bettering" themselves, much less the school. And me… for all that I think education is important, it's not something I'm _that_ dedicated to. It's the extracurricular challenges here that I'm interested in._

_Naoto might take that speech to heart. Me? I'm just looking forward to my next battle with the forces of darkness. I wield the just sword… I will purge the Shadows in the fires of destruction. _That_… is what I find worth doing._

_**Along with practicing your melodrama, apparently, Master.**_

* * *

After School

* * *

Minato couldn't quite suppress a yawn, departing the school with Junpei. "Damn," he muttered. "I can shoot myself in the head without a qualm, fight eldritch abominations in the Dark Tower during a time no one else can see and turns things into the local equivalent of the Spectral Realm… but ten minutes in some of these classes are almost more than I can bear."

Junpei grinned. "Don't feel bad, man, it ain't easier for me, either. Although…" He frowned. "Hey, I saw you _sleeping_ during Toriumi's class! How the hell do you manage to get top grades when you let yourself do that?"

"Studying," the other said dryly. "On my own time. Textbooks can be dull, but not as sleep-inducing as some of our teachers."

"Tch. You need to get out more, Minato my man!" Junpei clapped him on the back. "Hang out with the guys, find yourself a girl! Y'know, that kind of thing!"

Minato flinched. _…Easy for you to say, Junpei. Real easy._

_**Now, now, Master, he **_**is**_** unaware of what happened to you back then…**_

…_True enough. Doesn't make it any easier to hear, though. Especially from Mister Enthusiasm. I swear, he must guzzle energy drinks the way an alcoholic does beer._

"Oh, look, there he is! It's Akihiko-senpai!"

The high-pitched, almost squealing voice jolted Minato out of his dark reverie. Glancing up, he spotted a group of girls toward one side of the school's courtyard, all of them looking -somehow- even more excited than Junpei tended to be.

"Where?" one of them demanded excitedly. "Where, where? Oh-! It's him!"

Indeed, the boxer with the red vest, jacket slung over his shoulder, was approaching from the athletic side of the school. He saw the girls coming… and, raising his stature in Minato's estimation, didn't seem entirely pleased to see them. He actually winced, and didn't break his stride as they gathered around him.

Junpei whistled enviously. "Damn, Minato… look how popular Akihiko-san is with the ladies! Take a look at that!" He grinned. "I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse…"

_To try and get close and take advantage of his aura of manliness, I suppose? Junpei, you're a human being, not a scavenging fish._

"Pretty impressive, I gotta say," Junpei went on, shaking his head. "I mean, even for the captain of the boxing team, being this much of a chick magnet is damn incredible!"

"I suppose so," Minato said noncommittally, expression carefully neutral.

"You 'suppose'?" the other said incredulously. "C'mon, Minato, you don't even see girls flock like this on TV! Akihiko-san's skills are right outta this world!"

_And as far as I'm concerned, they can _stay_ there. Being popular with bits of decorative fluff isn't all it's cracked up to be, Junpei._

Junpei grinned -again- seeing Akihiko and his crowd of admirers approach. "You guys free this afternoon?" the boxer asked without preamble, ignoring his fans entirely.

Impossibly, Junpei's grin got even wider; Minato began to fear for the integrity of his comrade's face. "Hell, yeah!"

"…I've got no plans," Minato said warily, eyeing the fan girls. "What've you got in mind, Senpai?"

"I'd like you two to meet me at Paulownia Mall." Before Junpei's expression could cause him injury, Akihiko went on, "You know the place, right? Meet me at the police station." He nodded at Minato, while the enthusiasm drained from Junpei's face with astonishing speed. "You can show him the way, right, Minato?"

The swordsman nodded with a small smile, acknowledging Akihiko's insinuation. _Not that I'm trying to hide that part anymore. They know I'm looking for clues everywhere… Heh. At least this means…_

Junpei, to judge from the look on his face, had reached the same conclusion. "The… police station…?" he said slowly. "Why of all places…? You mean we're not gonna hang out with your friends?"

Akihiko was honestly confused for a moment, before realizing who the younger student was referencing. "Friends?" he repeated. "What, you mean these girls?" He rolled his eyes. "I don't even know their names. They talk so much, it gives me a headache…" The boxer shook his head. "Anyway. I'm gonna head there now; don't keep me waiting."

"Awww," one of the girls groaned, watching him leave. "Why can't he be more friendly? Oh…"

"But that's what makes him so _cool,_" another of them said dreamily. "Stoic, aloof, dangerous… What more can you ask for?"

They trotted off, leaving Minato and Junpei to exchange bemused looks. "He doesn't even know their _names_?" the man in the hat muttered. "Come _on!_ Just _look_ at them!"

"…I don't blame him," Minato said quietly, turning to leave as well. "Not a bit."

"Say _what_?" Junpei hurried to catch up. "But… but… Come on, Minato, you can't tell me you aren't envious! Having that kind of luck with the ladies…!"

"I don't call that luck," Minato said, voice unexpectedly cold. "You think they have any idea, any at all, what Akihiko-san is actually like? You think they see anything but the 'stoic, aloof, dangerous' boxer?" He snorted, lengthening his stride. "They're fan girls. Superficial. And if he _did_ choose one, how do you think that would go? How would the other girls take it?"

Junpei flinched at his friend's uncharacteristic vehemence. "Minato… hey, man, what the hell's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

Minato started to make a sharp retort, then forced himself to pause, taking a deep, calming breath. "…There's more to happiness than being popular, Junpei," he said, more calmly this time. "And there's more to a relationship than what's on the surface. Being popular with the girls the way Akihiko-san is might be flattering in the short term, but in the long term…"

_**Easy, Master. Junpei hasn't seen the things you have. He's ignorant, not deliberately insensitive.**_

_I suppose you're right. And hopefully, he never has to experience firsthand what I have._

Minato's agitated walk slowed to his usual, sedate pace a dozen meters out the school gates, letting Junpei catch up. "Damn, Minato," he said, breathing hard. "Sorry, man. Did I hit a nerve…?"

"…It's nothing, Junpei," Minato replied, gazing at the sidewalk beneath his feet. "Just… reminded me of something from a long time ago."

There was silence for several steps. Minato wasn't sure if he'd frightened Junpei, or if the latter was showing more sensitivity than usual. _Maybe a bit of both,_ he thought, with a mental wince. _I got a little carried away…_

Then, a couple of minutes down the road… "Hey, Minato?"

He didn't look up. "Yeah?"

"…If you ever wanna scare the hell outta somebody, try doing that with a trench coat or something. That'd be _awesome."_

* * *

_The Police Station, huh? Hope nobody I know got transferred here; that'd blow my cover pretty damn quick._

_**Your grandfather presumably looked into that before you left, Master. I think he would've warned you.**_

_Hm. Point._

Minato wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not that the local police station was both small and, at the moment, seemed to have only one officer in view inside. On the one hand, for all that Port Island was a young community, it was rapidly growing; on the other, there _was_ the small matter that it was virtually owned, and certainly run, by the Kirijo Group. They very likely had considerable influence in local police affairs.

_And I of all people know the Kirijo Group would be… disinclined toward excessive police activity on their turf. Even leaving aside the supernatural stuff going on here._

Akihiko was already there when Minato and Junpei arrived, speaking quietly with the officer at the front desk. "…Thank you, Sir. I appreciate it." He glanced over at the door. "Ah, there you are. It's about time you guys got here… These are the ones I was talking about, Officer."

The cop gave the two an appraising look, visibly sizing them up; Minato wasn't sure he liked the way the man's gaze seemed to linger on him, but he admitted to himself it was possible he was being paranoid. _Remember, "Arisato", you are _not_ the center of the universe. At the moment, Mitsuru-senpai is very probably the only person digging into your background._

"This is Officer Kurosawa," Akihiko said after a moment. "Officer, this is Minato Arisato, and the guy in the hat is Junpei Iori. They're the newest members of our team."

"I see," the policeman said noncommittally.

Akihiko didn't seem surprised by the man's attitude. "Officer Kurosawa is the one primarily responsible for keeping our squad well-equipped. After all, weaponry and body armor aren't the easiest things to acquire without… connections." He smiled faintly. "Of course, it still isn't exactly free…"

"Naturally," Kurosawa noted, a very faint trace of amusement in his own expression. "Nothing in life is."

_Ah. That explains the ambivalence; this could, looked at from a certain point of view, be considered bribery. Not to mention black market weapons deals… Of course the good officer would be cautious._

"Of course," Minato said aloud. "TANSTAAFL."

Junpei looked at him blankly, but Kurosawa nodded in slow approval. "I see you understand, Arisato-san. Good for you."

Akihiko glanced between them, mildly bemused, then shrugged; whatever it was, it wasn't worth exerting himself to find out. "Considering our circumstances, you may find yourselves putting a lot of wear and tear on your weapons, so keep this place in mind if you need any replacements. And I suggest you pick up some body armor, too; it may come in handy…" Wincing, he pressed a hand to his still-healing wound, waved his other hand, and left.

_I really should do some experimenting with… what was that called, anyway?_

_**A Dia spell, Master.**_

_Right, that. Need to experiment with that some more next time we're in Tartarus. Akihiko-san is going to be out of the fight for another couple of weeks at least because of a relatively minor wound; we can't keep dealing with that sort of thing if we expect to be an effective force._

"Kinda surprised a cop is helpin' us out like this," Junpei remarked, glancing at the rack of weapons behind the counter. "I mean, I can imagine the Kirijo Group could pull some strings, but still…"

Kurosawa shrugged. "I've been told about the two of you, and I already know about SEES' activities. My job is to keep the peace, no matter the circumstances, so ordinarily I should probably be arresting your entire group… but while I may be just an ordinary police officer, I'm not stupid. There's something going on here that the police can't deal with, so the way I see it, my duty is to support the people who _can_ handle it."

Minato raised an eyebrow. That was a more unorthodox line of thought than he'd expected from an average cop. He knew from personal experience some would bend the rules when necessary -he was only still alive thanks to a detective's off-the-record assistance- but this was even beyond that incident.

_But then, Dojima-san wasn't seeing stuff like Apathy Syndrome first hand. It really _doesn't_ take a genius to realize _that_ isn't normal…_

"Huh," he heard Junpei murmur. "Kinda surprised there aren't any guns here…"

Kurosawa snorted. "Guns are a _lot_ harder to deal with 'off the record' than antiques, Iori. They're also more dangerous to the untrained. And, to top things off, I understand you're already using a device with a similar structure, in a way that would be _really_ bad if you got them mixed up."

"Just as well," Minato said, turning to his companion. "I can't hit a building if it's falling on me with one of those things."

Junpei blinked. "You've got experience with guns, Minato?"

The blue-haired swordsman arched an eyebrow again. "I didn't get a hole in my shoulder playing checkers, Junpei."

* * *

Evening

* * *

By the time Minato arrived home at the dorm, he was wearing a set of light body armor under his school jacket, having chosen a vest of some Kirijo Group-made composite in lieu of anything heavier. His own fighting style was predicated more on avoiding being hit in the first place, so he accepted a compromise of protecting his vitals without negatively affecting his mobility.

When he'd left the police station, Junpei was still contemplating acquiring a new sword, one more suited to actual combat. Minato hadn't even bothered looking at the selection of weapons; he would wield no blade but Eurydice.

_Probably a good idea for Junpei, though,_ he conceded, ascending the steps to the dorm's doors. _That monstrosity of his is pretty decent for a mass-produced replica, but I wouldn't care to bet my life on it long-term…_

Pulling open the door, Minato stepped into what was becoming a comfortingly familiar setting. The dorm's lounge, like the rest of the building, was proving to be the most comfortable place he'd lived since leaving Hinamizawa, several years before; the company, even he conceded, didn't hurt that at all.

At that particular moment, said "company" consisted of Ikutsuki in one of the lounge's armchairs, perusing paperwork; Akihiko, on one of the couches with a bowl of instant ramen; and Mitsuru, sitting across from Ikutsuki. Like Ikutsuki, she seemed to be examining papers of some kind, but in a rather more abstracted fashion.

"Evening, everyone," Minato greeted quietly, shutting the door behind him.

Mitsuru looked up from her documents. "Ah, Arisato," she said, with a small smile. "Welcome back. I understand Akihiko introduced you to our supplier earlier?"

"Mm," he confirmed. "Picked up a little body armor. I'm comfortable with the gear I've already got, otherwise."

She wasn't surprised. Having personally examined the youth's sword after his collapse, Mitsuru knew Eurydice was very carefully maintained, and Minato had shown considerable familiarity with the blade in combat. It -she, she corrected herself mentally, recalling his exchange with Yukari the previous night- was also a very high-quality blade; it was unlikely Minato would switch to another weapon.

"Good," Mitsuru said simply. "Now, then… if you have a moment, there are some things I'd like to discuss with you, Arisato."

"Of course." Minato walked over to the common area and slid smoothly onto the couch across from Akihiko; the boxer gave him a brief nod and salute with his chopsticks. "I assume this is about last night?"

"Indeed. The results thereof, to be more precise." She nodded at the boxer. "Akihiko, as you can see, is unfortunately still recovering from his wound, and obviously I'm going to have to continue as support for the foreseeable future. As such, I think the best arrangement for now is for you to continue acting as leader of the field team. I don't think I have to explain why."

_Not really. Leaving aside my ability to switch between Personas, I'm fairly sure I recognize your reasoning for not wanting either of the others in charge. Junpei, good heart though he has, is a tad -okay, more than a tad- impulsive, and doesn't have quite as much experience as I do, while Yukari… She may be more experienced than I am, but it's obviously not by much. And it looks like she has some trouble keeping it together under pressure…_

Mitsuru could make a pretty good guess as to what was going through the swordsman's mind, and she smiled faintly. "Exactly," she said dryly. "And, as you've probably also surmised, I believe your ability to summon multiple Personas will add greatly to your tactical flexibility. Since no one knows what they're capable of better than you yourself, you're in the best position to decide how best to employ that ability in battle."

Minato nodded. "I'm still learning about it myself," he admitted, "but I'm getting the gist of the implications already."

"Good. Because we're going to have to ascend Tartarus now, to find out what's going on… and as the incident the night you manifested your Persona proved, we can't be sure when an unusually powerful Shadow will appear. Therefore, I'm going to want you to take your team into Tartarus regularly, as much for training as for exploration."

_Train like you fight, so you can fight like you trained,_ Minato mused, nodding slowly. _Classic training doctrine. Well, ain't like there's any _other_ way to train for fighting in the Dark Tower; there's not really any way to simulate those conditions…_

"I think I can handle that," he said after a moment. "If we take it slow and steady, we shouldn't have any problems."

"Excellent. Now…" Mitsuru glanced again at Akihiko. "In last night's expedition, we confirmed that you can switch between different Personas at will, and also became aware of the capability to heal wounds using Persona ability. I understand it was a minor cut to Iori's face?"

"Relatively," Minato confirmed. "It might have required stitches normally, but it wasn't anything serious."

"As I thought. The possibility, however, exists for such spells to handle more serious injuries. Obviously," she said dryly, "I don't want you going out of your way to test that; that isn't a risk worth taking. If the event _does_ arise, however, we need to find out if it can be done. I have the feeling that the situation may be starting to escalate, so we can't afford more incidents like with Akihiko. If such wounds can be healed without days or weeks of rest, we need to know."

"Y'know, you _could_ just test it right now," Akihiko interjected, an annoyed expression on his face. "I mean, we're all right here and everything…"

Mitsuru shot him an exasperated look. "We can justify it in Tartarus because of the risk of _not_ being at full-strength there, Akihiko. It isn't something we want to be experimenting with if we _don't_ have that imminent need. And besides, you could do with learning a little _patience."_

"Tch…"

Akihiko went back to his ramen sullenly, and Minato couldn't say that he blamed him. _I know I was pretty anxious after what happened to my shoulder… Even without everything else that happened that night, I don't think I would've been happy waiting. I was just fortunate that I heal so fast…_

"At any rate," Mitsuru said, turning away from the boxer, "that's how it is. Your priorities regarding Tartarus are physical training, experimentation with your unique abilities, and of course exploration of the interior. Being as you also need to keep up your studies, it's going to be a fine balancing act… so I'm giving you permission to leave the dorm after the normal curfew, if need be."

Minato blinked, actually surprised. "You trust us to do that?"

"I trust _you_ not to abuse it," she corrected, the implication clear. "That said… try not to do so too often. The Dark Hour will be enough of a drain on your strength as it is."

"True enough." Stretching, Minato stood. "Anyway, Senpai, if that's everything, I think I'll be turning in. Sounds like I'll be needing the rest."

"Good night, then, Arisato."

Watching him go, Mitsuru frowned. _Yes, the Dark Hour saps our strength… but you hardly seemed to notice it yourself. I think now that you don't have any more answers than we do, Arisato, but there is definitely something strange about your reaction to the Dark Hour. It's incredible how calm you were that first night, and you showed no particular signs of fatigue then, either._

_And then there's your unusual Persona gifts. Arisato… what _are_ you?_

* * *

Thursday, April 23, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Minato was finally starting to get the hang of his new schedule. The trip from the dorm to Gekkokan was becoming a familiar course, life at the dorm itself was settling into comfortable routine, and after a couple of trips to Tartarus, even balancing that with school was looking to be a task within his means. All in all, even with the weirdness going on, the awkwardness of the first weeks in a new town was fading already.

_Which means, of course,_ he mused, _that something's going to upset that routine soon. I know my adventure stories: as soon as you think you know what's going on, something happens to turn the world upside down again._

_**Did anyone ever tell you that you're paranoid, Master?**_

_Lots of times. Then I got shot._

_**Touché.**_

"…seems like there's lots of creepy people around these days," Minato heard, as he approached the school gates. "More and more acting all weird, y'know? Kinda pasty looking, vacant stares…"

"Apathy Syndrome," another girl said knowledgeably. "Yeah, I've got a neighbor who has it; really creeps me out. I hope it's not contagious… Sometimes I kinda think I've got it myself. Really depressing stuff…"

"Tell me about it. But y'know, maybe you just need exercise? That Apathy Syndrome stuff… half of 'em are probably just lazy. Hey, the athletic teams are accepting new members! Maybe we should join?"

The voices faded with distance, the two gossiping girls outpacing Minato's leisurely stroll. He frowned, realizing he was running a bit later than usual, and started to pick up the pace himself when he heard another, closer voice.

"More and more people are talking about Apathy Syndrome, huh," Yukari said, hurrying to catch up with him. "Morning, Minato!" she added, smiling. "Listening to the gossip, huh?"

Minato chuckled. "Actually, yeah," he admitted, falling into step with her on the way through the gates. "You know me, I just can't pass up a chance to get some info… And yeah," he said, catching the look on her face, "I know gossiping school girls aren't the most reliable source of information. But whether they get their facts right or not, they make a good barometer for what people are _thinking."_

"Not a bad idea," she conceded. It had never occurred to think of it like that, but then she wasn't an amateur detective who seemed to spend all his waking moments absorbing knowledge like a sponge, be it pertinent to the situation or just the bits of pop culture he occasionally quoted.

_I guess we're not all that different,_ Yukari thought, not for the first time. _I'm not as good at it, but I'm trying to find out what really happened to my father ten years ago… Maybe I should take some pointers from Minato._

They were climbing the stairs to the school's entrance when Minato broke the silence again. "It's interesting to hear what people think of Apathy Syndrome," he remarked quietly. "Even if it is pretty far off the mark."

"Yeah," Yukari agreed. "It's kind of funny, really; as bad as it is, people like those girls are making it out to be even worse; the idea of it being _contagious…"_ She shuddered. "That would be… bad."

"Very."

The two arrived at the shoe lockers, and began swapping footwear. "On a lighter note," Yukari said, "you heard about the athletic teams looking for members, right? You thinking of joining any of them?"

"I might go for the kendo team," Minato admitted. "I don't really have a good sparring partner right now; Mitsuru-senpai is a fencer, and Junpei, well…"

She laughed. "Yeah. You'd have to give him a crash course before he could take _you_ on without getting smashed. Heck, you'll give the kendo _team_ a run for their money."

"Not necessarily," he said thoughtfully. "I'm not actually that familiar with tournament rules; my kendo training is more focused on practical use, which isn't quite the same thing. In a real fight, you might let yourself take a minor hit if it meant taking out your opponent. In a match, it's the touch that matters, not how much damage it would realistically do."

"Huh. Never thought of it that way."

Yukari wondered -again- what had prompted Minato to learn swordplay if not for tournaments, and once again shelved the idea of asking. She wasn't sure if he kept silent out of a genuine wish not to speak of it, or if he was playing some kind of game, trying to get his friends to think outside the box and figure it out themselves; either way, he was unlikely to answer.

_We've all got our demons,_ she reminded herself. _If he ever does want to talk about it… I'll be here._

"C'mon," she said aloud. "We'll be late for class."

* * *

After School

* * *

Parting ways with Yukari and Junpei after class, Minato did not himself head for the exit the way he usually did. Making his way down to the first floor, he instead turned toward the hallway leading to the athletic wing of the school, a path he'd ventured down only once before, during his initial exploration of the school.

_**Unusual for you to be doing something like this, Master, **_Pixie remarked. _**You didn't bother joining any clubs at Nishinomiya, after all…**_

_That's partly because the only one that interested me got co-opted by that weird girl and her pet weirdness magnet,_ Minato replied off-handedly, by now accustomed to interjections from voices only he could hear. _Besides, I need to get out more._

_**Because of how your power is dependent on your connections to others?**_

_Partly. If that were _all_ of my motivation, though, I don't think it would even work. If you're only getting close to people for power, I somehow don't think that kind of connection is strong enough to empower my supernatural abilities; true bonds with people are deeper than that. And,_ he noted, thinking back to a past he'd once thought buried for good, _I actually did use to be more outgoing. You're part of my subconscious, you can see how things were before I left Inaba._

_**True enough.**_ He had the impression of a smile from the mischievous entity. _**It'll probably be good for you, Master.**_

_So glad you approve._

Striding down the hallway between the club rooms, Minato found the door he was looking for, and checked the notices on it. As he'd hoped, the Kendo Team was one of the clubs looking for new members; and with the feeling of crossing a personal Rubicon, he knocked…

* * *

"Okay, people, listen up," the Kendo Team coach was saying a few minutes later. "Say hello to the new guy."

A half-dozen students in practice uniforms, carrying masks and shinai, gathered around, joined by a tanned young woman in a P.E. uniform. Some were indifferent, a couple appeared curious, and the girl, somewhat to Minato's relief, looked actually welcoming; he'd wondered about his "reputation" around the school ever since Junpei first mentioned the attention he was getting, and it looked like the Team was a macrocosm of the school's opinion.

"Name's Minato Arisato," he said now, smiling politely. "It's a pleasure."

"Yuko Nishiwaki," the tanned girl said in reply, extending her hand. "I'm the team manager." She smiled as he shook the hand. "You're a junior too, right? I've heard about you."

"Base libel," Minato declared, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Whatever it is, I haven't done it."

Yuko laughed, and the other members chuckled. "Even if it's something good? Anyway. We're in the same year, so you can just call me Yuko."

_**Perhaps your boxing senpai isn't the only chick magnet around here, Master. Very impressive.**_

_Oh, shut up._

The coach shook his head, hiding a smile. He, too, was familiar with Minato Arisato's reputation, and knew -whether the student himself did or not- that snagging the mysterious new transfer student would be quite the coup for the Team. People were watching him with interest.

_Time to find out what the kid can do,_ the coach decided. "Kaz," he said, nodding at one of the swordsmen-in-training, "you're in the same class, right? We've all heard things about Arisato, here; some say he knows what he's doing with a sword, so why don't we find out what he can do with a shinai?"

"You got it, Sir." Kazushi grinned. "I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. C'mon, Minato, get your gear and let's see what you've got."

Five minutes later, the rest of the team had scattered from the training mat, allowing Kazushi to face off with Minato, newly equipped with borrowed gear. The latter tested the heft of his new shinai carefully; he was more accustomed to the bokken, closer to a live blade than a shinai. Combined with his relative unfamiliarity with tournament rules, he was looking at a situation where he had to hope his reflexes could compensate for his shortcomings.

Kaz grinned at him. "I've seen you in class. You're the guy who went out with Takeba on the first day of school, right? Instant celebrity, man."

Minato groaned. "Please, Miyamoto, I get enough of _that_ from Junpei Iori. Yukari and I just live in the same dorm, is all."

"Make it Kaz." He pulled down his face mask. "And how's this: you win, I don't say another word about it. Deal?"

Minato lowered his own mask, and lifted his shinai much as he might've Eurydice. "Deal. Bring it, Kaz."

* * *

"Point!" Yuko called out. "That one's to you, Minato! Nice work!"

The combatants stepped back, saluted each other, and rather hurriedly pulled off their masks. Fifteen minutes, and both were sweating and breathing hard… but after a hard-fought match, Minato had pulled out a victory. He was more winded than after an hour of fighting Shadows, but he'd done it.

"Whew!" Kaz breathed, fighting to catch his breath. "Not bad, Minato. Knew there had to be a reason everybody was talking about you, but I didn't expect you to be this good. You must've been part of your last school's team, too, right?"

Minato discretely coughed, and allowed himself to sink onto the mat. "No, actually," he wheezed. "I'm not used to tournament rules, to be honest; I used to be, but that was years ago. I was taught combat rules by a family friend."

_**I notice you don't mention that was because people wanted to kill you.**_

_Nah. No need to scare them. 'Sides, I don't want them thinking I'm a delinquent or anything; a little air of mystery is good enough._

The coach laughed aloud. "Ya hear that, people? Arisato hasn't done it by the Book in years, and he _still_ pulled out a win against Kaz, our future team captain!"

Minato glanced away, a little embarrassed; the mutterings from the other team members, sounding suspiciously like agreement, did not help. "I just got lucky," he muttered.

Kaz snorted. "Lucky, hell! You won the bet, Minato, but I warn you: from today on, you're mine. I'm not goin' easy on you!"

_My own personal rival/drill instructor. Nice; check that off the list of life's ambitions…_

"Fine," Minato agreed, and hauled himself back to his feet. "I'll just have to stay ahead of the game, then." He grinned. "Having a target will help."

Yuko shook her head at the banter. "At least you're getting along with the team, Minato… Okay, since this is your first practice, you should call it a day now. I'll make sure you've got a proper uniform for next time." She smiled. "Welcome to the team, Minato. With you joining us, I think we'll go far."

* * *

Evening

* * *

By the time Minato returned from his walk about town, he was well and truly bushed. _Damn glad we don't go to Tartarus _every_ night,_ he groused to himself, climbing the stairs to the dorm's front door. _By the end of the year, I'll either be in the best shape of my life, or dead of terminal exhaustion._

"Yo!" said a far too cheerful and energetic voice, as he came in the door. "Been makin' news again, eh, Minato? I heard you joined the Kendo Team today!"

Minato closed his eyes, counted slowly to ten, and turned slowly to Junpei, seated before the lounge table. "News travels fast," he said. "Nice to know I've got so many eyes on me."

"Don't worry about it," Akihiko advised before Junpei could reply; he was seated across from the man in the hat, examining a pair of boxing gloves. "You're just the new big thing, that's all; they'll find someone else to spy on soon enough."

"I hope so." Minato crossed to one of the couches, and dropped gratefully onto its cushions.

Luxuriating in the chance to rest his weary feet, he didn't even notice that Mitsuru was sitting directly across from him, reading a book; the reverse, however, was not at all the case. The redhead glanced up from her reading, and gave Minato a curious once-over.

_He's been busy,_ she decided. _I don't think he looked that tired after his first visit to Tartarus… Perhaps it's starting to catch up with him?_

"I hadn't actually heard the news, myself," she said aloud; her comment was addressed generally, as she could see Minato was already half asleep. "I take it his first practice was… energetic?"

"I heard from Yuko that the coach had him try out against Miyamoto," Yukari offered, from the dining area. "They were at it for a while, apparently."

"But Minato won," Akihiko noted, smirking. "I guess our new leader is good at fighting more than just Shadows."

Minato cracked open one eye. "New big thing," he muttered sleepily. "They'll find someone else to spy on… yet _you_ guys all seem pretty interested, too. What am I, a reality show?"

He promptly passed out before he could receive a reply, and Mitsuru hid a smile behind her book. _Well,_ she thought, _at least everyone here likes him… Get some rest, Arisato. It looks like you might be the team leader for quite some time…_

* * *

Akihiko was no longer particularly surprised to find Mitsuru in the Command Room late at night, perusing files. It was, however, beginning to exasperate him, and he saw no reason to hide the fact.

"Come on, Mitsuru," he said quietly. "You've been over the background check a hundred times now; it's not going to tell you anything new by now. Either confront the guy, talk to your father, or give it a rest, why don't you?"

"Hm…?" Mitsuru glanced up from the papers. "Oh, Akihiko… No, you've got it all wrong. You're right: there's nothing more to be learned from the background check… but that's not what I'm doing." She extended the papers toward him. "Take a look."

Frowning, he looked them over, and realized they were not, as he had assumed, the files from Minato Arisato's background check. Instead, they were forms of some kind, related to matters at Gekkokan High…

Akihiko's eyebrows went up. "I see… What brought _this_ on, Mitsuru?"

She shrugged, taking the forms back. "You know I've been looking for a deputy for some time now; I can't do everything myself, and Hidetoshi, well…"

"A bit overzealous, yeah." The boxer nodded. "His heart's in the right place, but he could use some people skills."

"And you're too busy with other matters," Mitsuru agreed. "And, frankly, while there's no one I'd rather have by my side against Shadows, your talents aren't really suitable for this kind of thing. Arisato, on the other hand, is cool-headed, smart, and apparently popular."

"He is that. He made his entrance with style, and kept right on going." Akihiko chuckled. "I think it's the whole 'mysterious transfer student' thing. Minato's quiet, never talks about himself, and polite to boot." He frowned thoughtfully. "You think he'll go for it, though?"

"We'll see, won't we?"

* * *

Monday, April 27, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Days had passed uneventfully, with a couple of visits to Tartarus and another grueling encounter with Kazushi; by Monday, Minato was sore, but in a good way. His aches were those of a body breaking itself down to rebuild better than before, and teasing about his love life aside, he was feeling good.

_Something will be along to mess me up soon, of course,_ he mused, approaching the school gates, _but until then, I'm going to enjoy it. I'm on top of the world, today…_

"Ugh… I _so_ hate Mondays… never have any _energy…"_

A sigh. "Didn't you say that last week, too? And maybe the week before that? …And there's a special assembly this morning, too. Grr… Why today? We just had one last week!"

…_Why do I have a bad feeling about this…?_

"Remember Kirijo-senpai's speech? It was great, wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't understand it, really, but it sure sounded awesome… Wait, what does that have to do with anything?"

The other voice lowered conspiratorially; Minato, to his regret, managed to catch every word anyway. "The way I heard it, it was so good that the principal got jealous. Apparently, today's speech was scheduled so he could steal some of Kirijo-senpai's thunder back!"

"Seriously? You mean we gotta suffer for _his_ ego? Not fair!"

…_I knew it. I freakin' knew it! I'm going to be dead of boredom before the day is out!_

In the back of his mind, Minato could hear Pixie laughing.

* * *

Minato knew just by looking at the teacher on the auditorium stage, and the expression on the face of the principal standing next to him, that his worst fears were coming true. The thing he feared more than any Shadow, more than the blade of any Yakuza swordsman, more than death itself…

"Good morning to you all," the teacher began, smiling blandly at the assembled students. "Welcome to this morning's assembly. We'll begin with a word from the Principal; please, give him a warm welcome."

"What's going on with this assembly?" Yukari muttered; she and Junpei sat in the row ahead of Minato. "We just had one last week… Could this have anything to do with the recent incidents?"

Minato grimaced. Apathy Syndrome cases had been on the rise for the past week, along with minor, "unexplained" injuries and apparent vandalism; it was, he knew, all related to the Dark Hour, but inexplicable to authorities or not, it was something they noticed.

"Tch." Junpei slouched in his chair, utterly unimpressed. "Maybe, but it doesn't matter. The Principal doesn't know anything about Shadows or the Dark Hour; he won't say anything worth listening to. Bah… I just hope he doesn't take all day…"

Yukari sighed. "Yeah, his speeches always take forever, don't they…"

The teacher had vacated the podium now, and the principal took his place. "Ahem," he began, clearing his throat noisily. "Today I'd like to tell you about my, um, vision for this new school year. As you are aware, strange incidents have been reported on the news lately…"

_Huh. Sounds like Junpei and Yukari are right on the money…_

"It is my firm belief that none of you are involved."

_Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. Of course, you don't actually have the slightest idea what goes on in the head of your average student, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?_

"However, if we want to better our school, we must all take responsibility for change."

_Yeah, yeah… Hey, wait a second…_

"Dig deep down inside, and tap into your imaginations… But don't lose touch with reality! As they say, 'There's no use crying over spilt milk'. That's the key to reaping all the rewards education has to offer…"

_Can you _get_ any more cliché? C'mon, the speech you're plagiarizing was at least original!_

Minato wasn't the only one who noticed something… off… about the principal's speech. "Wait a second," Yukari hissed. "Doesn't this sound like Mitsuru-senpai's speech? Almost word for word…!"

"Yeah," Junpei agreed, frowning. "The hell's up with that? Bad enough we gotta sit through this, but if it's just the same stuff Senpai said, but with the Principal's idea of 'inspirational words'…!"

Minato grinned to himself. For all their differences, at least he found himself in accord with Junpei's obvious outrage.

* * *

Afternoon

* * *

He found it hard to concentrate on math class later that day. After recovering from the near-terminal boredom inflicted by the principal, he'd been hit at lunchtime by a request from Mitsuru to speak with him about something important after school.

_A "special request", she said… What the hell does _that_ mean?_

Minato wasn't exactly worried about it or anything; he was sure it would be nothing he couldn't handle. It _did,_ however, vex him to no end that he had no idea _what_ it was. It was the first time since he'd begun to puzzle out the events of the night of his arrival in Port Island that he'd been completely and totally clueless about something that was going on.

Because of that, he almost missed it when Ms. Miyahara, Gekkokan's eccentric in charge of math class -the eccentric part really went without saying, of course; _every_ member of the Gekkokan faculty was more than a little strange- starting going even further off the track of logic than usual. Almost.

"…Then round up, so… The answer is X equals one… Wait, it isn't? Oh, right, this becomes eleven, so… I'm sorry, you're right, X equals two. Er… is that right? Bah! Your assignment is to figure that out! Anyway, isn't that incredible? Even with a difficult problem like that one, X still equals one. Or two. Whichever."

…_Um. As weird as most of these teachers are, they usually at least know their own obsessions reasonably well. Mister Ono might not know much else about history, but he knows the Sengoku Era like the back of his hand. Considering how obsessed with numbers Miyahara is, you'd think she wouldn't trip up like that…_

_**She **_**does**_** seem to focus more on the aesthetics of the numbers themselves, Master. Whatever **_**that**_** means.**_

_True._

"Anyway, that's not the point," Miyahara was saying now. "The point is that math is fun! Don't you agree? Hm, let's see… Ah, yes. It's the Twenty-Seventh, so the math works out to… Minato. Your turn."

Mildly uneasy, Minato stood, waiting for the question. He was, as with most of his subjects, not too shabby at math, but it definitely wasn't something he enjoyed. _And even I have trouble managing difficult equations on the fly; I'm more of an intuitive kind of guy._

He would almost have preferred something difficult to what he actually got.

Miyahara nodded at him. "All right, Minato, here it is: what's one plus one?"

Minato was so flabbergasted by the simplicity of the question that he almost forgot to answer it. "…Two…?" he hazarded, half-convinced it was somehow a trick question.

She smiled. "Exactly right! It's a simple question, so the fundamentals are obvious. No matter what you may be counting, one plus one will always equal two. Atoms, students, if one joins with another, it will be two. That's math for you. Isn't it amazing?"

He slid back into his seat, mentally shaking his head. _Good grief. Yeah, yeah, fundamental, basic truth, blah, blah, blah… We kinda _know_ that, Sensei. We're high school juniors, not first graders._

Not for the first time, Minato wondered about the quality of teachers hired at Gekkokan, and considered the possibility of some deep-seated Kirijo Group plot, or bizarre experiment by the same. Certainly it made more sense for such an eclectic bunch to have been hired deliberately than for them to have gathered by sheer coincidence.

_What we have here is the faculty equivalent of the class I was in at Nishinomiya. Yare, yare…_

* * *

After School

* * *

_Wow,_ Minato thought, gazing out through the fence bars. _Quite a view up here…_

He wondered idly why Mitsuru had requested that he meet her on the school's rooftop. Probably, in his estimation, for privacy; a classroom wasn't exactly the best place for a discrete conversation, a point he rather wished Junpei would learn. Whatever the reason, though, he had to admit he wasn't exactly complaining.

Minato had seen a lot of Tatsumi Port Island since his return, but this was the first time he'd gotten this kind of view of the city. Gekkokan High was situated in such a way that it gave an absolutely breathtaking vista of the island, showing very clearly the place he now called home… and a rather sobering view of what, exactly, he was fighting to protect.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Arisato," he heard, concurrent with the roof door opening. "And I apologize for the perhaps… cryptic nature of my request."

He turned to face the emerging redhead. "Not at all, Senpai," he assured her. "I'm sure it's important."

"Well," Mitsuru conceded, walking over to join him by the fence, "I have to admit it's not as vitally important as our midnight operations. But education is still important, even with our other responsibilities, so it's significant in its own right."

Minato raised an eyebrow, idly slipping his hands into his pockets. "Education?" he queried.

She nodded. "Yes. I'll get straight to the point, Arisato: I'd like you to join the Student Council."

He blinked. _Okay,_ he admitted to himself, _I wasn't expecting _that_ one. I've only been back in town about three weeks, one of them spent mostly comatose. I've hardly even _been_ to this school yet. Isn't this kind of… unusual?_

_**Isn't everything, where you're concerned, Master?**_

"…Why me?" Minato asked at length, when introspection failed to produce any answers.

Mitsuru smiled faintly, inwardly pleased at having scored a point against her junior's deductive skills. "Simply put, Arisato, your leadership skills are looking to be quite impressive. Despite some initial hesitance on Iori's part, you've settled into the position of SEES field leader quite nicely. Here at school, you've also proven to be quite popular; take your reception at the Kendo Team, for example."

_See, what'd I say before? My life is a reality show to the team. Next thing you know, Junpei will be going around with a camera._

Taking Minato's silence as a positive -even if he was confused, at least he wasn't objecting- she continued, "To be honest, I've been looking for some capable assistance. My responsibilities as President are quite time consuming, and the aid of someone I can count on would be invaluable; the other members of the Student Council do their best, but none of them have your particular qualities."

"You need a deputy, then," Minato mused, turning back toward the rooftop edge. "…The other members of the Council won't object to having a stranger basically brought in over them?"

Mitsuru brushed a few stray locks out of her face. "No," she assured him. "My nominative second, Hidetoshi Odagiri, is too professional for that. And as for the others… As I said, you're popular. I don't believe there will be any problems."

_Huh…_

Minato was silent for some time, considering it. He had to admit, he was a little unsettled by all the attention he was getting; at his last school, he'd been perfectly content to stay in the background while the resident weirdness magnet got the spotlight. The last time he'd been the center of attention, there'd been a lot of blood and more than a few corpses involved.

But…

_Hell. Sometimes I hate having a conscience._

_**Senpai needs your help, so you'll do it, eh, Master?**_

_I almost wish chivalry _was_ dead._

"…Okay, Senpai," he said at last. "If you think I can be of help, I'm at your service."

Mitsuru allowed a small smile. "Thank you, Arisato. I knew I could count on you." She paused. "…I must apologize for having already made the arrangements with the Faculty, but…"

_Well. Someone is already getting a handle on how I think._ "No problem, Senpai," Minato said, and turned to her again. "I'll drop by the Faculty Office on my way out, then, and get the details taken care of."

"Excellent." Mitsuru turned to head back into the school. "In that case, Arisato, I'll introduce you to the Student Council at our next meeting. I'll see you later."

Minato watched her go. _A reality show, I tell ya. Naoto will _never_ let me hear the end of this._

* * *

Wednesday, April 29, 2009, After School

* * *

True to her word, Mitsuru turned up the next day after class to show Minato to the Student Council Room. Naturally, he already knew perfectly well where it was… though he found it somewhat odd how it happened to be within just a few steps of his own classroom.

_Convenient, though,_ he acknowledged to himself, following Mitsuru in. _Probably a legitimate coincidence; even in my screwy life, not _everything_ is part of some grand conspiracy._

There were four or five other students inside already, around a U-shaped table arrangement. Minato recognized two of them, having noticed their particular quirks already; the others, as far as he recalled, hadn't any actions or mannerisms notable enough for him to have paid much attention. In a life as weird as his had gotten, you had to be _somewhat_ unusual for him to really notice.

Mitsuru cleared her throat. "Ahem. Everything, this is Minato Arisato, the second-year student I've been telling you about recently. He's agreed to join us on the Student Council."

The existing members of the Council looked at him curiously, and Minato noted particular scrutiny from one of the two he'd recognized, a senior with a yellow armband. Minato had seen him around before, and had already started to hear rumors about his habits.

"Hm…" The other looked at him speculatively. "Well, Arisato. I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri, head of the Disciplinary Committee."

The blue-haired swordsman nodded. "A pleasure."

The other student Minato was familiar with, a girl with long brown hair and glasses, bowed, looking decidedly nervous. "I'm Chihiro Fushimi," she said, managing a small smile. "I'm the Treasurer. Um… I'm a first-year… and I'm, um, still learning the ropes, so… please be patient with me, Arisato-san."

Minato bowed in return. "I will," he promised. "A pleasure to meet you, Fushimi-san."

Chihiro flushed -unsurprising, from what Minato had heard about her- while Hidetoshi seemed to be observing his manner. Approvingly, apparently, because he promptly smiled. "Well, well. You must be something special if the President hand-picked you, Arisato. She's been looking for someone to fill your spot for a while now."

"I try…"

A short round of introductions with the other members of the Student Council followed, and then Mitsuru nodded to herself.

"I think we'll just leave it at introductions for today," she said, glancing at her watch. "It's getting late, and there's no pressing business just now." She turned to Minato, smiling slightly. "Thank you for joining us, Arisato. We'll be counting on you."

"Indeed we will," Hidetoshi chimed in with his lopsided smile. "There's been a number of issues in need of attention, Arisato, and now it looks like we'll have the means to deal with them."

_**Well, well. You **_**are**_** popular, aren't you, Master?**_

_Tch. I'm starting to think I know how that guy back in Nishinomiya felt…_

* * *

Evening

* * *

After a quiet, relaxing meal at the Hagakure -Minato was firmly of the opinion that no food beat a good bowl of ramen for unwinding- he trekked back to the dorm, his spirits in good shape. He'd gotten shanghaied into another set of responsibilities, but the detective in him rejoiced at even the more mundane issues a "Student Council Deputy" would likely be involved in.

_A little helping of the mundane,_ Minato thought, slipping into the lounge, _to help offset all the craziness. And,_ he thought with an inner smile, _something I can tell Naoto about without her thinking I've gone completely around the bend!_

"Hey, dude!" he heard as he closed the door, the voice instantly lowering his spirits. "I heard Mitsuru-senpai got you onto the Student Council!"

Minato raised an eyebrow in Junpei's direction. "I see the grapevine is as quick as ever," he said dryly. "It's only been a couple hours."

"Hey, you're practically a celebrity around here, remember?" Junpei snorted. "You sure you're up this, Mister Leader?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned to Mitsuru. "Hey, Senpai, you really sure you want to let this slacker in?"

Mitsuru, occupying one of the lounge's armchairs, didn't even look up from her book. "He exhibits few signs of distress from the Dark Hour, learned most of what we had to tell him _before_ he joined SEES, and out-pointed the school's kendo star in his first match. I don't intend to burden him with many extra responsibilities here, Iori, but I'm confident he'd be able to handle even more, if he had to."

"Well… I suppose."

Now she did look up, eyebrow raised in a manner eerily similar to Minato. "Why, were you interested in helping too, Iori?"

Junpei coughed, looking away. "Uhhh… that's okay, Senpai. I think I'll pass. Uh, thanks for the offer, though."

Smiling faintly, Mitsuru returned to her book, while Minato moved to the couch opposite Junpei, plunked himself down, and picked up a book off the table. Quickly dismissing both Junpei and his senpai from his attention, he quickly lost himself in the old tales.

Unnoticed by any of the three, Akihiko, sitting in the other armchair, had followed the conversation with some interest. _Well, well. I guess Mitsuru's finally deciding to just wait and see. That's good… we don't need her too distracted._ He smirked. _It's funny, though, how she's gone from trying to figure out if he's really trustworthy, to actually making him her deputy on the Student Council._

_Then again, with Junpei as the comparison…_

Glancing at Minato's book, he was unsurprised to see that it was a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. Just about the first thing SEES had discovered about the youth was his keen eye for detail; if it turned out he had some detectives in his family tree, Akihiko would not be at all surprised.

_Which reminds me,_ he thought with a sudden frown. _I've already got Shinji looking into things… Maybe I should get Minato looking into it, too. If anybody can find out anything about Yamagishi, it's him. Think I'll run that by Mitsuru later…_

* * *

Friday, May 1st, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Mornin'!"

The morning routine, the regular monorail trip and subsequent walk to Gekkokan, was comfortingly normal, Minato had to admit. It meant getting too little sleep after Tartarus trips -like last night, he reflected, wincing at a fresh bruise- but it was worth it for the link to normal reality. It reminded him that he _was_ just an ordinary student, when he wasn't fighting heartless monsters in the Dark Tower.

_And the company isn't half bad,_ he mused. "Morning yourself," he said, turning to Yukari as they reached the school gates. "How's your leg?" She'd taken a nasty slash to the thigh the previous night; Minato's back was still sore from knocking her out of the way before the Shadow could open her femoral.

"Good as new," she replied cheerfully. "Persona really is a handy power… You really ought to use it, too, if your back's still bothering you."

"Not worth it," he said with a shrug. "Besides, I've had worse since we started this."

"Yeah," Yukari agreed. "Hard to believe it's already May… Almost a month since you got here, huh? And it's getting pretty warm, too."

"Tell me about it," he said ruefully. "I spent a week of it in a coma, so it's even weirder for me." He glanced at his watch, and gestured toward the school. "A lot's been happening, that's for sure."

She fell in step with him, heading for the entrance. "Sure has," she agreed, sighing. "And the cases of Apathy Syndrome seem to be going up… They were down for a little while, but I guess that was just a fluke." Yukari fell silent for a moment. "…We're the only ones who know what's going on, the only ones who can actually do something about it. We should keep training, I guess… especially in case something like _that_ comes up again."

Minato nodded silently. He knew just what she meant: the unusually powerful Shadow that had been his introduction to the monsters. Even now, he didn't know how things would've gone if he'd fought it personally. He'd bagged the two that came after it, but the big one had been summarily slaughtered by the strange, ominous Persona he'd manifested that night.

He thought he could take such a thing, given the opportunity. But then, he'd thought he could do something he really couldn't before, and still had the scars to prove it, physical and otherwise.

"I need to, especially," he heard Yukari murmur. "I don't want to be a burden on anyone…"

Minato glanced at her sharply. _She still hasn't quite gotten over what happened that night,_ he thought. _Damn… Sure, she froze up, but hell, that thing put _Akihiko-senpai_ on the bench for a month. And _he'd_ fought them before._

"You're _not_ a burden," he said, quietly but firmly. "Whatever may have happened that night, you've proven yourself since then. Something that big shows up again, I know you can handle it."

Surprised, Yukari shot him a quick glance. "…Thanks, Minato. That means a lot."

"Don't take it too seriously," he advised. "We still have to make it through school, too."

She groaned. "Yeah, I know… I'd rather spend a week in Tartarus than deal with another of the Principal's speeches…"

* * *

After School

* * *

_No insanity for once,_ Minato mused after the final bell had rung. _Nice change…_

He was working intently on a piece of paper, still seated at his desk, when Junpei wandered over. "Whatcha got there, Minato?" the ball cap-wearing one asked, glancing down at the paper. "Don't tell me you're workin' on something for extra-credit. I mean, come on." Junpei rolled his eyes. "You're already the top student in the class, for cryin' out loud."

Minato's pen slashed through a quick signature, and he proceeded to fold up the sheet, slipping it into his pocket. "Nope," he said quietly. "Just an order form." He smirked. "I should thank you, Junpei, for giving me the idea."

Junpei blinked. "Um, what? …Never mind, I probably don't wanna know." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah, did ya hear Akihiko-san's at the hospital again? Another checkup, I think."

"Should be almost the last," the other remarked, mentally calculating the time since the boxer's injury. "For a couple of broken ribs… yeah, he should be almost back in fighting trim."

"I don't wanna know how you know that, either. But anyway, he called me earlier, asked me to bring him something." Junpei grinned. "Oh, yeah, Akihiko-san knows who he can count on, you bet. Ya need it, the Iori can get it."

_**Well, there's nothing wrong with his ego today, I see.**_

_Is there ever?_

Before Minato could formulate a properly sarcastic reply, verbally or otherwise, a snort interrupted them. "Yeah, sure, Junpei," Yukari said with a roll of her eyes, crossing the classroom to join them. "Or maybe it's cuz you don't have any clubs or anything. You don't have anything better to do, do you?"

Junpei gestured sharply, glaring. "Hey! I've got a life, too, y'know! It ain't all about the school clubs."

Yukari giggled, waving a hand. "Sorry, sorry. I was just kidding, Junpei."

_I'm not. But, who's counting?_

"So what is it he needs?" Minato asked curiously, his love of knowledge outweighing his love of sarcasm.

Mollified, Junpei smirked… but only briefly. "The class roster for 2-E, actually," he admitted with a shrug.

Yukari exchanged a puzzled look with Minato. "2-E's class roster…?" the archer repeated. "What would he need that for?"

Even Minato had to confess confusion this time. "Good question," he admitted. Considering how little Akihiko seemed to care about socializing -or most other human beings in general, come to think of it- even Minato was stumped as to why he might want the roster for a class that was neither his nor, as far as Minato knew, in any way connected to SEES.

_Unless… Nah. We'd have heard about that by now, wouldn't we? Or… maybe not. I haven't been with them long enough to know how they handle that, except for one _very_ unusual case._

Yukari mused on it for a few moments more, before finally shrugging. "Guess it doesn't really matter. Anyway, I don't have practice today, so I might as well go with you." She cocked an eyebrow at Minato. "You're coming too, right?"

"Sure, why not? I need to mail something, anyway."

Junpei frowned. "H-hey, wait a minute-"

"Is there a problem?" Yukari asked sweetly. Minato immediately decided he never wanted to cross her when she sounded like _that._

"Well, it was _me_ he asked…" Junpei, he observed, was willing to challenge it.

On the other hand, it _was_ a trio that left the school minutes later…

* * *

Walking into the hospital's lobby, Minato wondered idly just how familiar this place was going to get for him. In years past, he hadn't been in hospitals much; he healed so well on his own that it was seldom necessary. Now, however, he was engaged in a conflict outside normal human experience, and would very likely be dealing with even more unusual injuries over the coming months. Even Persona healing abilities, he was sure, had their limits.

_And considering that this place is owned by the Kirijo Group, fully in on the secret of the Dark Hour, it's probably used for researching the Dark Hour's effects on the human body. I'll have to keep that in mind._

After finding out Akihiko's room number from the receptionist, the three students crossed to the elevators. Approaching one just as it opened, still distracted by his idle detectiving, Minato almost walked right into the person coming out.

"Oops, sorry," he said, dodging quickly to one side. "My mistake."

The woman he'd nearly bowled over, a young lady with purple hair and a reddish-brown business suit, flashed him a quick smile. "I wasn't paying attention either, don't worry about it." Waving a black-gloved hand, she slipped past, heading for the exit.

Junpei and Yukari exchanged a glance. "What the heck was _that_ about?" Junpei wondered, turning to Minato. "Anybody you know?"

"Never seen her before in my life." Minato shoved his hands back into his pockets and stepped into the elevator. "Probably nothing."

_But still… I felt… something…_

* * *

The rest of the trek to the indicated room was uneventful, right up until the moment they entered the room itself. Standard hospital fare, perfectly ordinary décor; a little too much white for Minato's peace of mind (reminding him entirely too much of times past), but nothing unusual.

Also no Akihiko Sanada. This was not, however, to say that the room was completely empty, and even Minato felt the hair on the back of his neck stiffen at the sight of the lone occupant.

Sitting in a chair beside the room's bed, the teenager wore a dark gray hat, a maroon trench coat, and a dour expression.

Minato was tense. Junpei was literally rocked back on his heels, and it took him several moments before he could form coherent speech. "Er…" He paused, cleared his throat, and tried again. "E-excuse me, is… is Akihiko-senpai…?"

The tough-looking teen noticed them for the first time. "Huh?" he grunted, glancing up.

Junpei managed a nervous grin. "…In this room, by any chance?" he managed to finish.

The youth in the coat did not reply, seeming instead to size them up. Under that inscrutable gaze, Yukari looked increasingly uncertain, Junpei seemed to be contemplating fleeing the room, and Minato began to wonder if he'd have been better off bringing Eurydice with him.

Before the atmosphere could reach stiflingly lethal levels, the door opened behind them, and footsteps clattered in. "What are you guys all doing here?"

The three students turned, relieved, to find Akihiko standing there, jacket slung over his shoulder as usual. "We came to see you!" Yukari told him, grinning giddily. "But, um… it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with you…"

Akihiko snorted. "Nothing at all. It's just a checkup, that's all."

The teen in the trench coat abruptly stood, drawing attention back to himself. "Is that it, Aki?" he asked, voice surprisingly quiet.

Akihiko nodded, an odd expression on his face. "Yeah… thanks."

The youth grunted. "Tch. I don't have time for this garbage," he muttered, and made his way to the door; the three Gekkokan students hastily made way for him, and then he was gone.

_Okay. That was officially weirder than that thing with the girl in the elevator. Scarier, too._

Yet, there was something about the other youth that Minato found familiar. Something about his attitude reminded him of… himself…

Once the dour one had gone, Junpei shuddered in relief. "Who the heck was _that?"_

"A… friend from school, you could say," Akihiko told him, gesturing vaguely. "I had him look into something for me. You know how the Apathy Syndrome cases are increasing? He… gets around a lot, so he knows a few people suffering from it. I was just asking him about it." He shook his head. "Nothing to worry about. Anyway, Junpei, did you bring the roster."

Junpei grinned, eagerness displacing lingering tension. "You bet, Senpai." Pulling a sheet out of his pocket, he handed it to the boxer.

Akihiko took it, examined it briefly, and nodded to himself. "All right, thanks." He tucked it into his own pocket, and, grimacing, rotated his left arm few times.

Yukari winced. "Senpai, I thought you shouldn't be moving your arm. Your injury…"

"Tch. This is nothing." He smiled tightly. "I've wasted enough time as it is. I need to get back to training."

Yukari frowned uncertainly, but Minato saw his point. _That much downtime can play havoc with an exercise regimen, especially for a fighter. I remember how things were for me, after I was shot. And I heal faster than Senpai does…_

Junpei was grinning. "Oh, yeah! Gekkokan's golden boy, born to be in the ring!"

His fellow juniors joined their senior in giving him strange looks. "…Sometimes, I really have no idea what you're talking about," Akihiko remarked, shaking his head.

Junpei, predictably, was unfazed, if slightly puzzled.

Yukari cleared her throat. _Stupei,_ she thought. "Anyway, Senpai… why boxing?"

Akihiko glanced over at her. "You mean, why'd I choose that sport?" He smiled. "Well, to be honest, I don't really care much about the sport. I just wanted to learn how to fight." The smiled disappeared. "I… know what it's like to feel powerless… and I don't ever want to experience that again." He looked over at Minato. "You know what I mean, eh?"

The swordsman nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sure do." There was enough blood and regret in his past to know _exactly_ what his senpai meant.

The smile returned. "Besides, I wanna know just how strong I can get. It's like a game, except my opponent is none other than myself, and my own body."

"That's… an interesting way of lookin' at it," Junpei admitted, looking unusually thoughtful. The impression was promptly spoiled by a cocky grin. "Y'know, I'm into games myself."

"Yeah," Yukari said, in unison with Minato, "_video_ games."

The two glanced at each other, at Junpei's half-surprised, half-wounded expression, then back at each other. The only appropriate response was, of course, to laugh themselves silly.

* * *

**Author's note:**

* * *

I'm not entirely happy with that scene as the ending point for this chapter, but it was quite literally the first remotely decent place I could find, with the next being too far away to be practical.

Yes, the Solid Shark is back, and he apologizes profusely for the delay. Simply put, this has been the year from hell for me, four months of which were spent without home internet access, three of those without even _electricity,_ so the delay was kind of unavoidable. Particularly frustrating as this chapter was about ninety percent complete as of when the real chaos started.

Apologies to anyone I've neglected to reply to; it's been a little hard to keep track of things, with internet access so sporadic. I'll do my best to keep up, now that I'm back online.

As for the chapter itself: a couple of mysteries introduced here, and it begins to codify certain aspects of the story. Please be aware that later uses of Persona are likely to be somewhat inconsistent with their portrayal here; now that I'm following the _Persona 4_ anime, I'm going to be integrating its portrayal of Persona use to some extent. Bear with me while I get that figured out.

I think that's everything for now. Let me know if the chapter was worth the excessive wait. -Solid


	4. Chapter IV: The Great Monorail Robbery

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Minato found his double life to be about the most interesting series of experiences he'd had in years, but he had to admit it was taking its toll on him. Combine his Dark Hour excursions with school and -especially- Kendo Team, and he needed every bit of sleep he could get.

Having just gotten back from clearing the fifteenth floor of the seemingly endless Tartarus, he found himself particularly in need of rest. So, naturally, he'd been asleep for perhaps five minutes when something disturbed his subconscious and informed him that he was no longer alone.

Cracking open one eye, Minato could see that the room was still filled with the eerie lighting of the Dark Hour. That meant only a small handful of individuals could possibly be in the room, and unless it was Junpei pulling a particularly annoying -not to mention ill-advised, given Minato's sleeping habits- prank, there was only one likely candidate.

Yep. Standing at the foot of his bed was a creepy little boy in a striped shirt. "Hi," he greeted cheerfully. "How have you been?"

_No use pretending I'm still asleep,_ he thought, discarding a ploy he might've at least considered had it been a more normal intruder. "…You again?" he said, trying to keep his annoyance at being awoken out of his voice.

In all probability, the boy wouldn't have noticed anyway; whatever he was, Minato didn't think he understood humans well enough. Certainly he showed no trace of offense now. "It's been a while," the boy pointed out. "It's about time I came to see you again, don't you think?" He smiled. "Have you been well? You've spent considerable time in the Tower of Demise, lately."

_Tower of Demise? …That's a new one._ "Nothing I can't handle," Minato said aloud, finally deciding to just play it casual with the mysterious intruder. "It's been more tedious than anything else."

"Good! I'm glad to hear it." Still that smile-a smile that belied his next words. "You know it's a Full Moon next week, don't you? Please be careful."

_Full Moon-I can just _hear_ the capital letters in that. Never a good sign._

"There will be a great ordeal then," the boy went on. "An ordeal as you have met before, so I'm sure you can handle it. You've improved since last time."

Minato pulled himself to a sitting position. "Last time? Full Moon? You mean…"

The boy nodded. "Yes. You will face your greatest ordeals on the nights of the Full Moon. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? One of… _them._" His expression changed now, slightly uncertain. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what they mean, myself. I don't remember. Still… whether you and I understand or not, I have confidence in your ability. Don't you?"

"Of course." The answer was easy, automatic. After only a couple of weeks, Minato was already getting accustomed to this sort of thing. Even if it was bigger than normal… he'd handle it.

_No. _We'll_ handle it. I'm… not alone anymore, am I?_

The boy smiled again. "I'm so glad to hear it. Just remember, please: time is of the essence. If you still need to prepare, I suggest you hurry…"

He faded abruptly, in the way Minato remembered from his last visit. And, like last time, reappeared only a couple of feet further away, as if he simply couldn't be bothered to walk the distance.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. We'll talk again afterwards, okay? See you then…"

The boy faded again, and this time did not reappear. Instead, as if the boy had timed his departure that way on purpose, the green light of the Dark Hour went away, replaced with ordinary moonlight and the dim glow of various pieces of electronics.

Minato fell back against his pillow, suddenly even wearier than before. "Aw, hell," he muttered. "I'm _so_ glad Golden Week starts tomorrow…"

With vague thoughts that he should warn the others about the significance of the Full Moon, he passed out. His sleep, at least, contained no new omens of disaster.

* * *

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_Well, at least Golden Week was mostly uneventful. Back to the weirdness, now._

Minato had spent most of Golden Week alternating between resting and working out. He vaguely remembered the boy in the striped shirt visiting him the night before vacation began, and though he couldn't quite recall the details, he'd the distinct feeling that a warning had been involved.

If he'd learned one thing over the years, it was that ignoring even suspicions of impending doom was unwise. If something was coming besides the usual Tartarus grind, he wanted to be ready for it.

Now, walking up to Gekkoukan's gates, he once again felt the minor sense of unreality that came with going to a normal school that, at night, turned into a tower of monsters. _Sure doesn't look like a "Tower of Demise" right now. Block of Boredom… okay, that sounds about right. Or it would, if the students and teachers didn't sometimes compete with the Shadows for sheer lunacy._

"Man, I can't believe Golden Week is already over," he heard a girl whine ahead of him. "That's so depressing… Y'know," she said to her friend, "rabbits can _die_ of sadness!"

The other girl sighed. "Okay, first, that's only an urban legend. Second, Saki… _you're not a rabbit!"_

The first girl blinked. "Aw, really?! No way! I thought it was, y'know, proven science!" That she was not a rabbit, Minato noticed idly, she did not address. "But, y'know, speaking of sadness… I saw an elementary school student all by herself at Naganaki Shrine the other day. She _did_ look kinda like a sad rabbit…"

They passed out of earshot, leaving Minato to quietly shake his head. _Funny. How often do I end up coming to school just in time to hear those two discussing something completely off the wall? …And what does it say about me that I bother to pay attention?_

_Hm… and I thought it was doves that supposedly died of being sad? Or was it loneliness in their case? …What the _hell_ am I thinking about?_

_**You're sounding like you'd fit right in with them, Master.**_

A few steps behind, Yukari Takeba was almost caught up with her classmate when she saw him smack himself in the head with his own book bag for no apparent reason.

* * *

Morning

* * *

So far, Minato had actually found one or two teachers at Gekkoukan who actually fit the bill of being reasonably normal teachers who focused on their jobs. The kind who taught, taught well, and didn't go off on odd tangents about cake, the beauty of numbers, or how absolutely awesome it would've been to live in the Sengoku Era.

Ms. Ounishi, "teacher" of Chemistry, was not one of them.

Minato was already feeling somewhat puzzled by the odd looks Yukari had been sneaking him since they got to class. Seeing Ms. Ounishi -whose hair, now that he thought about it, vaguely resembled a samurai topknot- looking like all she wanted to do was fall asleep over her own desk changed that puzzlement to vague wariness.

Mostly misplaced. Mostly.

The teacher sighed audibly. "I just don't feel like teaching today… You all know how that is, right? Like you probably don't feel like being taught… Anyway, I was watching TV last night, and saw one of those stupid ads about 'special' weight loss techniques. 'The more you drink, the thinner you get!' " She snorted; in her condition, it sounded almost like a snore. "Come on! What about osmotic pressure, huh? It's misinformation, but it's on TV, so people are dumb enough to believe it. Remember that craze about _soap_ that makes you thinner?"

As a matter of fact, Minato did, vaguely. TV commercials were a necessary evil one paid as little attention to as possible, in his eyes, but even he couldn't escape them entirely without giving up on TV completely. He remembered thinking only sheep would actually _buy_ something so ridiculous.

If he remembered correctly, though, it actually _had_ made a fair bit of money, somehow.

"Utter garbage," Ounishi proclaimed, mirroring Minato's thoughts. "Soap is nothing but fatty acid salt. Even you kids know perfectly how soap works, right? Hm… Arisato, I'm sure _you_ do. Enlighten your sleepier classmates for me, will you? Soap: acidic, basic, or neutral?"

Sometimes being singled out to answer the questions drove Minato nuts; he knew there was a fine line between "popular" and "teacher's pet". This time, though, he was too amused to be irritated. Especially when Junpei, apparently catching the "sleepy" jab, suddenly sat up, blinking rapidly.

He stood. "Basic," he stated simply. _Sometimes only one word is all that needs to be said._

"Bingo. You really are smarter than you let yourself look." Ounishi cast a scathing look at certain other students. "Unlike some of these guys. So here's how it works, for those of you who need a refresher: human skin is slightly acidic. Rubbing a base substance on it can irritate it. You know those pH-balanced 'soaps'? They're most likely synthetic detergents, not true soap. Moral of the story? Don't believe everything you see on TV!" She paused. "Correction: don't believe _most_ of what you see on TV."

Minato sat back down, satisfied.

"I wouldn't have caught that one," Yukari whispered to him, while Junpei -unsurprisingly- looked just as confused as before the explanation. "Do you know _everything_, Minato?"

"Nah," he breathed back. "I've just had to clean up some nasty stains in my time."

* * *

Evening

* * *

One thing Minato had grown to appreciate greatly about living at the dorm was the lounge. After the last couple of years, a comfortable little gathering place, with people he was actually coming to consider friends, was a very welcome thing to come home to after school and its attendant activities.

Closing the big double doors behind him, Minato wasn't even too displeased when Junpei was the first one to greet him. "Hey, dude," the Man in the Hat called; he was on one of the couches by the center table, munching on a bowl of instant ramen. "Wondered where ya were. Long day?"

"Kendo," Minato replied tiredly, crossing to the other couch.

Yukari, sitting on the other side of that same couch, looked up. "Kendo Team doesn't meet on Wednesday…"

"Not officially. But Kaz sometimes wants to do some extra training."

"Oh." Yukari had occasionally looked in on Kendo Team, usually when passing by on Archery business, and had seen how much of a monomaniac the team's star member was. And how he'd apparently decided Minato was his personal training dummy. "No wonder you're tired, Minato."

"You should see Kaz." Minato leaned back gratefully. "He's gonna think twice before he ropes me into 'unscheduled' training again."

Usually, Minato was a tolerant, laid-back guy. He was a very willing participant in Kendo Team activities in general, enjoying the training immensely. Kaz, though, managed to tire even him, and this just wasn't a good week to push him, not with that vague sense of impending doom in the back of his mind.

So, he'd been a tad more aggressive than usual when Kazushi Miyamoto insisted on his "extra" training this time. Minato suspected Kaz would be moving a bit gingerly during tomorrow's _scheduled_ meet.

"Hope you were careful on the way home, man," Junpei said now, shaking his head. "You musta seen it, right? Lots more of those freaks around lately."

Minato grimaced faintly at Junpei's choice of words, but didn't disagree. "Yeah. There's more of the Lost than usual, all right. They're harmless, though."

"Yeah, I guess so… Not much else going on just now, eh? Dunno about you, but I'm getting bored." Junpei finished his ramen, set the bowl aside, and flopped back, face toward the ceiling. "What do you say we hit Tartarus tonight?"

Over in the dining area, Akihiko suddenly perked up. "You know, that's not such a bad idea. Maybe I'll go, too…"

A cleared throat alerted Minato to Mitsuru's presence, sitting so quietly up to now in one of the armchairs that his tired mind hadn't noticed. "Akihiko," she said mildly, "are you _trying_ to make me angry?"

The boxer twitched. "…I was just kidding," he muttered, returning his attention to the boxing gloves in his lap. "Don't take it so seriously…"

Mitsuru gazed in his direction a few moments longer, her piercing gaze enough to intimidate even Akihiko. Then, apparently satisfied, she turned her attention to Minato. "In all seriousness, if you're up for it, Arisato, I'm not against you three going tonight."

Minato thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "Not tonight, Senpai. We did it all through Golden Week; I think we should rest a night or two."

"Fair enough." Mitsuru frowned slightly. "Iori is right about one thing: it's been very quiet lately. More of the Lost have been appearing, but otherwise…"

"The Shadows, you mean?" Akihiko interjected, very carefully.

"Yes. They've been active, in their usual way, but there hasn't been a major attack since the night Arisato awakened." She shook her head. "I don't like it. I do not believe that will be the last attack outside of Tartarus. Arisato, be sure you and your team are ready for anything."

Minato exchanged a glance with Junpei, then with Yukari. Both were -almost surprisingly, in Junpei's case- serious, but also reasonably confident. "If anything comes up, we'll handle it, Senpai."

"Good. I'll trust your judgment on this, Arisato."

* * *

Saturday, May 9th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_Well, at least I've got _one _thing to look forward to today,_ Minato mused, bobbing his head slightly to his music as he approached Gekkoukan's front gate. _Assuming the online tracking information was right this time, anyway._

_**Junpei will be floored,**_ Pixie remarked. _**Either impressed or intimidated. …Perhaps he'll get a taste of his own suggestion from the other day?**_

_Only if he's stupid enough to bring up the same subject matter. And I think even Junpei got the hint that time._

_**I give it a month, maybe two. His attention span isn't long enough.**_

…_Fair enough._

Minato and the fragment of his psyche shared a brief mental chuckle, but his amusement wasn't quite unalloyed. There was still… something in the back of his mind, bothering him. He couldn't quite shake the uneasiness from the striped-shirt boy's vaguely remembered warning, and it had been getting worse lately. His instincts were saying that something was abut to come to a head.

He wasn't sure if he was glad of that or not.

"Hey, Minato. Wait up a sec."

Minato slowed up, letting Akihiko catch up; an idle thought as the senior approached was one of bemusement at how Akihiko always seemed to carry his blazer over one shoulder, yet never got tired. "Something up, Senpai?"

"Not really, just wondering how you're doing." Akihiko glanced significantly at the school, which doubled as the stuff of their nightmares… twice over. "You've been keeping up your training in Tartarus, right?"

"Yeah. There haven't been any big incidents since the night I got here, but I can't help feeling it's about due. Like an erupting volcano or something." Minato paused. "But you know that, don't you, Senpai? You must've noticed us going off to Tartarus so often."

The boxer grimaced. "Actually, I've been very carefully not keeping too close track. I don't want Mitsuru to think I'm going to do something she doesn't want me to."

"Ah." That explained that. Minato had noticed almost nothing physical frightened Akihiko Sanada. Mitsuru Kirijo in a bad mood seemed to make up for the lack quite nicely. All it took was one glance, and the captain of the boxing team followed so eagerly by so many love-starved twits was reduced to a twitching mass of raw nerves.

_**Maybe an iceberg scared him when he younger?**_

"Anyway," Akihiko said, "if you _are_ keeping it up, good for you. You should never slack off on training if you can help it." He carefully flexed the arm n his injured side. "I'll be healed up and ready to join you on the frontlines soon, but even then… don't rely on me too much. Trust your teammates, but never let yourself depend on them for everything."

"Got it, Senpai." Minato hesitated. "By the way, Senpai… do you get the feeling that something is coming?"

"I was hoping it was just me." Akihiko grimaced again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Mitsuru's picked up on it, too, and she's something of a real sensitive." He glanced up at the school again. "Of course, it might be the first bell we're sensing. We'll be late if we don't pick up the pace a little."

"…Oops."

* * *

After School

* * *

_Crud,_ Minato thought, after the last bell had rung. _Now I remember. That kid said something would be happening _today,_ didn't he? Dammit, why can't I be more alert when I'm half asleep?_

_**Er…**_

_Oh, shut up. Dammit, Kaz had me all worn out that day, didn't he? Remind me to bash his head in next week, will you?_

_**You did that already. No more unscheduled training or you'd rip his lungs out through his sinuses, remember?**_

_Bah. So I did._

Yukari, just tucking her books away, noticed her friend's pensiveness. "Something wrong, Minato?"

"Hm? Oh…" Minato started to reply, then remembered he'd chosen -for very good reasons- not to mention to anyone else that he was occasionally visited in the middle of the night by a kid who looked like an escaped mental patient. He chose his _actual_ words with exquisite care. "I've just… got kind of a bad feeling today. Think I'm going to head back to the dorm early. Besides, I'm expecting a package."

"Yeah… I kinda get what you mean." Yukari slung her bag over her shoulder. "We might as well go together, then. I don't have anything club related today, so…"

"Might as well make it three," Junpei chimed in. "I'm free today, too." He grinned his usual blinding grin. "'Course, we _could_ go do something fun on the way home…"

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Of course _you're_ free, Junpei; you _never_ have anything to do outside of school. But I'm serious: I think Minato has a point. I'm just going to go home and get some rest." She paused to give him a death glare. "And don't even _think_ about saying what you're thinking. I mean _rest."_

From the look on Junpei's face, Minato suspected she was right in what he was thinking. _Dammit, he just _won't_ let that go, will he? And he should know better by now, too…_

"Let's just go," he said aloud. "If I'm wrong, well, it means I get some study time and a free nap out of it. And time to get things fitted out."

"Fitted out?" Junpei echoed, following the others out of the classroom. "Whazzat mean?"

"Keep pushing the issue and you'll find out the hard way, Junpei. Besides, it was _your_ idea; only right that you should get the full effect."

"Eh…?"

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

All of SEES had felt it by now, be it Mitsuru from her particular Persona abilities or the others as kind of an aura from their field leader. Something was coming, and probably soon; the only questions were when, and whether they'd be ready for it.

So Akihiko wasn't very surprised when he found Mitsuru, once again, holed up in the command room, her interest in her instruments almost refreshing after the weeks she'd spent poring over Minato Arisato's background files.

She had a headset held to one ear when he entered, a deep frown on her face and a deeper sigh just emerging as he walked up. "Still at it, huh? This thing really has you spooked."

"When _all_ of us are feeling this uneasy, Akihiko, I think it's something that should be taken seriously. Especially since we _know_ what kind f things have happened when we've let our guard down." She adjusted a dial on her instruments, listened intently a moment, and sighed again.

Akihiko noticed. "What're you doing, anyway? I thought you couldn't detect Shadows outside of Tartarus at all."

"Very occasionally, I can pick something up. But honestly?" Another sigh. "Yes. I lack the power. I suspect this is the best Penthesilea can do in terms of scanning; her abilities are far more battle-oriented. Still… the power of Persona does seem to be broader than we originally thought. Look at Arisato: he even has _multiple_ Personas, and can switch between them in the middle of battle." Mitsuru shook her head. "And he's only _just_ awakened to his ability. Who knows what he might be capable of when he's had time to grow into his power."

Akihiko nodded, thinking back to that first night, when Minato took on and destroyed the Shadow that had almost bashed in Akihiko's ribs. "I have to admit, I was pretty surprised myself. Of course, it's up to him to actually _reach_ his potential, but I don't seem him slacking off any time so-"

A burst of static interrupted him, startling both and drawing their attention to Mitsuru's instruments. Dials were dancing like mad, in a way Akihiko had never seen before.

"What the…?" Mitsuru breathed. "…It's a Shadow! Outside of Tartarus…!"

Akihiko stared. "You actually _found_ one? Wait, does that mean-"

"Something isn't right," she cut him off, listening intently. "This is… The reading is far too big; I've never encountered anything like-" She broke off. "Except-"

"Last month," Akihiko finished. "You mean it's like _that_ one, don't you?"

"It must be. It's far too big to be anything else."

The boxer slowly grinned. "…All right, then. This should be fun. Keep an ear out, Mitsuru; I'll wake the others."

She nodded absently, and with great relish Akihiko reached over and hit a button on the command room's console, setting off a wailing alarm.

* * *

For once, Minato wasn't actually asleep during the Dark Hour, despite no Tartarus trip being planned that night. Getting more wired by the minute, he was still mostly in his school uniform, missing only the blazer; he had been occupying himself caring for Eurydice, and trying out the contents of the package which had, indeed, arrived that day.

When the alarm went off, he needed no time to wake up or shake off the fog of sleep. Foregoing his blazer, he instead pulled on his new acquisition, pausing only to affix the SEES armband and sling Eurydice's scabbard over his back via newly-fashioned baldric. A brief hesitation to make sure everything fit correctly, and to pick up the belt with his Evoker, and he was out the door and on his way up to the fourth floor.

Minato matched paces with Yukari on the way up the last staircase; she already had a quiver slung over her back, bow in hand, and Evoker strapped to her thigh. She gave him a quick nod -only faintly noticing something odd- and then they were at the command room, just as Junpei opened the door ahead of them.

_Funny; I wouldn't have expected him to get here first. He must really be pumped._

"We're here!" Yukari announced, somewhat unnecessarily in his opinion.

"What's the situation?" Minato asked more sedately. Mitsuru, he noticed, was looking tense and concerned; Akihiko, by contrast, was every centimeter the boxer eager to step into the ring. About usual for him… when he was expecting a good fight.

"We've detected a Shadow outside of Tartarus," Mitsuru informed them. "My readings aren't as clear as I'd like, but it's almost certainly a big one. Like the one the night your awakened to your potential, Arisato."

His mouth tightened. He'd been more of a spectator than anything else for most of that event, but he knew full well that it had tossed Akihiko around like a rag doll, and he wasn't sure he himself -a neophyte to put it mildly, where Persona and Shadows were concerned- could've handled it had his abnormal Persona not intervened.

She saw his understanding, and nodded. "I know. That's not good news, but we still have to do something, and quickly. Almost no one will have any recollection of what happens during the next hour, but if half the city is destroyed, it will cause panic, to put it mildly."

"Yeah, hushing up the kaiju attack in a hurry is probably a good idea." Minato shook his head ruefully. "Where's Godzilla when you need him?"

"Aw, hell," Junpei enthused, "we don't need a giant radioactive lizard! We just need to rip it shreds, right? No problem!"

Yukari heaved a conspicuous sigh. "Junpei…"

_I think this would be a good time for "Stupei", actually. Although I suppose riling him up might not be the best idea just now…_

Mitsuru had actually smiled, briefly and slightly, at Minato's wit, but her aside glance suggested her opinion of Junpei's enthusiasm about matched Yukari's. The look she promptly turned on _Akihiko_ would probably have frozen the Man in the Hat to a block of Junpei-shaped ice had it been in his direction.

"_You,_ Akihiko," she said sternly, "are staying here and waiting for the Chairman. Someone needs to be here to brief him in when he arrives."

For once, The Look wasn't enough to instantly stifle him. "Are you crazy?!" he demanded. "Of _course_ I'm going after something like this! This is-"

"_You_ are still injured," she said, ratcheting up The Look's intensity. "You'd just be slowing them down in your condition. And _you_, of all people, should know it."

Akihiko managed to glare back for a full five seconds, before Ice finally overcame Lightning. "Dammit…"

Mitsuru reached out to touch his shoulder. "They'll fare better than you would now, Akihiko," she said softly. "We've been watching them train, haven't we? Have a little faith. They're ready. You'll get your chance to join them soon enough, but for now, you'll do more good here."

He looked away. "Aw, dammit…"

Junpei flashed his million-watt smile again. "Don't worry about a thing, Senpai! I've got it covered, no sweat!"

The boxer slowly turned his gaze to the junior. Took in his typical hat, scruffy almost-goatee. The heavy katana thrust jauntily into his gunbelt. The confident, nay, _cocky_ smile. Then turned his attention to Minato, standing quietly to one side.

Took in the much more sober look. The carefully maintained, disguised sword slung precisely over one shoulder. And the slight change to his wardrobe.

Akihiko smiled, just slightly. "Guess I've got no choice, then…" He glanced again at Junpei, very briefly. "Minato, you're in charge, as usual. Stay frosty."

Junpei's jaw sagged. "Him _again,_ even for this?" He turned-and paused.

Minato had skipped the Gekkoukan blazer, but was still wearing _something_ over his dress shirt. It was, in fact, styled after the Gekkoukan uniform, but the hem extended clear to mid-calf, with a slit up the back to just below the waist. The collar was raised, reaching most of the way to his chin. And something about the way it flowed suggested it was made of something a mite more durable than the regular school uniform.

"What the hell…?"

The blue-haired swordsman smiled faintly. "Well, you _did_ say I'd look 'epic' in a trench coat, Junpei. Well. Duster, technically…"

Mitsuru looked at him oddly, as if considering whether the change was practical. Apparently deciding the swordsman knew what he was doing -and likely picking up on the hints of durability- she finally nodded. "All right, Arisato. We're counting on you."

"I'll do my best." _And I _did_ kill the last one,_ he reminded himself, shrugging slightly to settle the open duster on his shoulders. _I didn't even know what I was doing. This time I know, generally, what I'm getting into. …Which, all things considered, is probably a very good thing._

He didn't miss the look Junpei was giving him. "Hah. So you're stuck playin' leader again? Sucks to be you, doesn't it…"

…_Stick to blunt comments, Junpei. Your sarcasm just isn't deadpan enough to bother. …Besides, that's _my_ job._

Akihiko didn't miss the byplay, either, but he chose to ignore it. Minato, he was sure, could handle any grief Junpei gave him, if it came down to it. "All right, then. Mitsuru, you've still got things to do here, right? Better let them get moving so everything's ready when you are."

She thought about that for a moment. "Agreed. Arisato, the Shadow seems to be in the vicinity of the monorail track for now. Take your team to Iwatodai Station and wait for me there. I'll be along as soon as I can."

"We're on it."

The three juniors filed out, Minato in the lead. Junpei was still looking unhappy, but Yukari was looking at Minato's coat with interest. "When did you get that, anyway?" she whispered as they left.

"Ordered it not long after I got out of the hospital. Junpei made a comment about me looking 'epic' if I got mad with a trench coat; I think I kind of scared him at the time…"

* * *

Now that the game was afoot and the danger he'd been warned of was right around the corner, waiting for them, the uneasiness Minato had been feeling all week had vanished. He was still tense, but it was an eager tension, very much like -though it bothered him to admit it- Akihiko's clear anticipation.

There was a good, clear fight in the offing. Minato's blood was singing in his veins at the very thought, and if swords had souls, he'd have sworn Eurydice was just as eager to be drawn, for her steel to draw blood. Or whatever it was Shadows used instead. Ichor. Whatever.

_Saya would've been just the same,_ he mused, pacing in front of the steps leading up to the monorail station. _Just waiting for the moment to draw Rensa Seishin… yeah, this would be _just_ her idea of fun. Of course, she'd also be upstaging me in front of all my oh-so-impressed admirers…_

Well. Admirer, singular, maybe. He seemed to have gotten Yukari's attention with his "fashion statement", but Junpei seemed as put out by the coat as by Minato having once again been chosen as field leader. Minato wasn't sure why that was, exactly. He _had_ noticed Junpei could get a tad surly where the matter of division of responsibility was concerned, but he still didn't quite get what his beef was.

_Our senpai are still the ones really in charge, anyway. I don't "lead", I just give tips and try and take the brunt of the danger… Well, whatever. Long as he doesn't do anything stupid over it._

Minato forced himself to stop pacing, just as he heard a sigh from Yukari. "Shouldn't she be here by now?" she muttered. "The Dark Hour only lasts so long…"

"Don't worry about it," Junpei said dismissively, taking a swig from an energy drink; Minato considered for a split second stealing the drink for himself. "She's our senpai, right? She knows what she's doing."

"Maybe." Another sigh, and Yukari turned her attention skyward. "…Doesn't help that there's a full moon tonight. It looks creepy during the Dark Hour."

"I thought the moon was supposed to be made of _green_ cheese," Minato commented idly. "That looks more yellow… What?" he said, when the two gave him strange looks. "Hey, would you rather I was talking about werewolves? 'Cause my grandfather has a couple of good stories… No?"

"No," Yukari said firmly. "The Shadows are bad enough, thank you. We don't need to be thinking about _imaginary_ monsters, too."

"Who said anything about… Never mind," he said quickly, when she reached for an arrow. "Shutting up now."

Junpei snickered; other than that, silence descended for a few subjective minutes (Minato really did hate trying to wrap his mind around the temporal aspects of the Dark Hour) before another sound finally manifested.

Minato twitched in surprise when he heard the distinctive sound of an engine approaching. _What the hell…?_ His hand was halfway to Eurydice's hilt when the motorcycle roared right up to the steps and slid to a perfectly timed stop.

It was Mitsuru, wearing a motorcycle helmet and a stylish leather jacket Minato found momentarily distracting. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said without preamble, pulling off her helmet. "Now, pay attention; we haven't got time to waste. As usual, I'll be providing support from the rear. I'll be setting up my equipment here this time. Everything else is standard operating procedure. Arisato, you know the drill."

He nodded, absently loosening his blade in her scabbard. "Where is the Shadow now? We didn't see anything when we arrived."

"It's currently located inside the monorail itself, about half a kilometer from the station. You'll have to walk on the tracks to reach it."

Junpei gawked. "Senpai, are you…?! No offense, but are you crazy? Walking _on_ the monorail tracks?!"

"Electronic equipment doesn't function during the Dark Hour," Mitsuru reminded him patiently. "The rails won't be charged, and you won't have to worry about the monorail running over you or anything."

He glanced toward the station, started to nod, then blinked. "Wait a second. Your bike-"

"It's special," she said simply. "The monorail isn't. Now, time's wasting. If anything changes, I'll contact you; in the meantime, begin the operation."

Yukari took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

Junpei grinned, looking for all the world like a dog slipping the leash. "Alright, let's _rock!"_

"Mission accepted."

The other two turned to look blankly.

"Oh, come on, don't either of you watch… Oh, never mind…"

* * *

Minato had had a wide variety of new experiences since getting involved with SEES, from fighting eldritch creatures on a rooftop to climbing the strangest tower ever to actually exist; from experiencing twenty-five-hour days to summoning bursts of fire generated by personified fragments of his subconscious. Even in a life as varied as his had been, the past month had been far from monotonous.

Traveling on foot on a -theoretically- deactivated monorail track was a new one even for that. Minato was very, very grateful he had no particular fear of heights as he and his makeshift "squad" hurried along the rails, open water visible on either side. As it was, the wind was catching his coat just enough that he was mildly concerned he'd be taking an unscheduled swim if he so much as tripped.

At least his physical conditioning was keeping up with it. The job hadn't even started really winding him; he was relieved to see Yukari and Junpei were also keeping up well enough.

Minato had just caught sight of a blocky shape ahead of them when static crackled in his ear. _"This it Mitsuru. The rearmost car of a monorail is about two hundred meters ahead of you now. There will be passengers aboard, and it's possible not all of them have transmogrified; take out any Shadows you find before anyone gets hurt!"_

"Almost there, Senpai." Minato put on a burst of speed, matched by his classmates, and closed in on the silent train.

_Too quiet, if you ask me. Damn, but the Dark Hour can get eerie._

A matter of a couple of minutes, and the SEES field squad reached the rear of the monorail. "This must be the one," Yukari said, breathing a little heavily. "Glad not many of them run this time of night."

"_Confirmed. The readings are still a little unclear, but they're definitely coming from that monorail. Proceed with caution, and don't get separated from each other, understood?"_

"Got it." Minato took a moment to stretch, loosening the muscles he'd need for a swordfight. "Ready to go."

Junpei flashed his megawatt-grin again. "Oh, yeah, my Persona's just chompin' at the bit, baby! We_ got_ this!"

By unspoken agreement, Yukari moved to the ladder leading to the rear door first; Minato held back a little, intending to bring up the rear, with Junpei following the brunette more closely. Said brunette had gotten a single foot on the ladder when she suddenly paused, put a hand on her skirt, and turned to glare at Junpei.

Quite an impressive glare it was, too. "_Don't_ look up," she growled. "Or _else."_

A moment's unspoken discussion, and Minato ended up being the second one up, instead. With, just to be safe, his tie wrapped over his eyes.

When all three were aboard, they had time to take stock of the situation. _Huh,_ Minato thought, easing Eurydice out of her scabbard. _Seems about usual, for the Dark Hour. But something feels… off, somehow. What am I missing…?_

Oblivious to his nominal leader's misgivings, Junpei sauntered over to one of the many coffins lining the aisle of the monorail car. "Didn't think there'd be so many this time of night," he mused, and rapped a knuckle on the eerie thing. "All these poor stiffs are just regular passengers… and they get Transmogged, huh? That's kinda creepy."

Minato nodded absently, prowling cautiously forward. "Disturbing as hell. No way to fight back if anything happens…"

"Yeah, but they don't remember anything about, if they stay like this," Junpei pointed out. "Better that way, maybe. You an' me, and Yuka-tan, we _can_ do something about, but these poor dopes…"

"Hey, guys?" Yukari interrupted. "Isn't this a little weird?"

Something about her tone set off alarm bells in Minato's head, and he turned to see where she was looking. Something still felt off to him, too, and-

_Oh, crud._

"We're not at a station," she went on, voicing what he'd just realized. "So why are the doors wide-"

_**SLAM.**_

_Double crud!_

Before she'd even finished speaking, the right-side doors slammed shut with enough force Minato was surprised they didn't break. Junpei, displaying reflexes Minato hadn't realized the Man in the Hat had, sprang across the aisle, rushing to get to the other set-

_**SLAM!**_ _**"Yeargh!"**_

_Triple crud!_

Uttering language so vile Minato found himself wishing for earplugs, Junpei pried his hands loose. "Dammit, the doors won't open," he said, when coherent speech returned to him. "Locked tight… And look at my fingers, man! That stupid piece of sh-!"

"_What's happened?"_ Mitsuru snapped.

"Doors just slammed shut and locked," Minato replied, looking over his teammate's abused digits; fortunately, they didn't look nearly as bad he'd feared. For one thing, they were still attached. "I don't think that's normal," he added, with deliberate understatement.

Mitsuru allowed herself what Minato thought was probably a French expletive. _"It must be the Shadow. It knows you're there… Proceed with _extreme _caution, and be ready for anything!"_

Yukari nodded jerkily. "R-roger that!"

"Next car," Minato said shortly, striding ahead of them. "This isn't the last thing that monster's going to pull, I can feel it." With his free hand, he yanked open the doors to the next car.

"And what could be worse?" Junpei said sarcastically, following close on his heels. "I mean, we're already locked-"

"Shut up! Don't tempt-"

Yukari was halfway through the doorway when the entire monorail shuddered, sending her stumbling into Junpei's back.

_Dammit, I _tried_ to tell him not to tempt Fate! Pixie, is this what I think it is?_

_**Look out the windows, Master.**_

_Crud!_

"What the hell?!" Junpei blurted, staring out the windows. "Why the hell is this thing _moving?_ I thought this stuff wasn't supposed to work during the Dark Hour!"

Minato's grip on Eurydice tightened. The monorail was, indeed, beginning to move from the position the Dark Hour had frozen it in, wheels grinding in movement he'd been told was impossible for all but specially-modified equipment.

_Of course, it _had_ already shut the doors on us… And we don't know much about what these things are really capable of, especially the big ones…_

"_The monorail seems to be under the enemy's control,"_ Mitsuru informed them, voice tightly controlled.

"It _seems?"_ Yukari repeated incredulously, nervously pulling out an arrow.

"_There's no time to waste. You _have_ to find the Shadow's main body, and finish this before the monorail goes too far."_ Their senpai's voice was grim. _"At this rate, you have only a few minutes before it crashes, be it into another train or the station itself. Be _very_ careful."_

"Easy for you to say!" Junpei snapped. "But we haven't even _seen_ any-"

"Look out!"

Junpei's reflexes saved him, barely, from having a Shadow land directly on his head. A fairly normal type, nothing they hadn't seen in Tartarus, but dangerous enough in close quarters; its descent, and Yukari's warning, were immediately followed by one of her arrows.

An arrow which missed completely, embedding itself in the wall of the car. Junpei, though, was actually on the ball, and his wild flail was backed with every bit of muscle power he had and all the edge his oversized weapon possessed.

The Shadow's mask flew away, along with most of its head, and its body melted into sticky ichor on the floor.

To Minato's surprise, Junpei actually grinned. "All right, _that's_ more like it! Hey, there's more in the next car!"

"_Wait! Don't be reckless!"_

"Whaddya mean, 'wait'?" Junpei's grin turned into a glare at thin air. "We don't have time to play it safe, right, Senpai? We're _moving,_ dammit! And so are they!" He gestured to the car ahead. "It's running away, see?!"

"_But we don't know what they're aiming for,"_ Mitsuru objected. _"Shadows don't just 'run' for no reason. …Arisato, Akihiko put you in charge for a reason. I'll leave this up to your judgment."_

"Play it cool," Minato said promptly, squinting after the retreating Shadow. "We're low on time, but if we just charge blindly, we're dead."

"_Agreed. Move quickly but carefully-"_

Junpei turned his glare, full-force, on Minato. "'Be careful' this. 'proceed with caution' that, that's all you ever say! Well, _I_ say we don't have time for that!" He sneered. "Hell, I don't need your help, 'Leader'. I'll finish this myself!"

"Junpei-!"

"Watch and learn, 'Leader'!" With a final sound of derision, Junpei turned, _kicked_ open the next door, and rushed ahead.

"Junpei!"

"_That's not good," _Mitsuru said, understating matters in Minato's opinion. _"You can't afford to be separated. Follow him!"_

"Right, Senpai!" Yukari agreed. "We're- Oh, not now!"

With a loud crash, a Shadow smashed clear through one of the windows, far too close for Yukari to bring her bow to bear. She leapt away as well as she could, but tripped over one of the coffins; ironically, saving her life, when a burst of fire flew through the spot her head had just occupied.

"_Orpheus!"_

On the heels of Minato's angered shout, another fireball arced down the monorail car, caught the Shadow full in its mask, and blasted it right back out the window. Another was coming in the opposite side, though, and two more were approaching from the car Junpei had disappeared into.

_Crud, crud, crud!_

There wasn't time for finesse, nor indirect attacks. Only the direct approach. And so Minato flung himself forward, Evoker in one hand and sword in the other, and charged right down the aisle. He stabbed out at the first coming in from the right-hand window, physically bashed aside one coming in from the first broken window with his left arm, and leapt straight for those coming in from the front. A faint whistling sound let him know Yukari had recovered to some degree, but he couldn't take the time to look.

One of those coming straight at him was of the basic "Maya-type", although seemingly somewhat tougher, and tried to use its usual arsenal of knives to fillet him the moment he got close. One, in fact, caught him in the face, opening a cut just below the left eye; another hit his sleeve but failed to penetrate. A third met Eurydice, slid along it, and lost three fingers from that hand along with the knife. A fourth drove toward his leg, but went flying when an arrow took off that entire arm at the base.

Before either of the first two knives could try again, Minato's blade drove straight into the Shadow's mask, producing an eerie cry, a puff of black smoke, and a puddle of sticky black ichor. The Maya's companion never even had a chance to attack, taking an arrow right to the face a split second before it could reach him.

Minato spun, brushing blood from his face and flinging some off his sword, and prepared to engage the foes he'd bypassed-only to see nothing but mud and drifting smoke.

Yukari, breathing hard and fast, came up out of her crouch and shakily lowered her bow. She offered him a shaky smile.

"…And you're not _captain_ of the Archery Team?"

Her smile turned to a grin for a moment; then her expression sobered. "Thanks, Minato… But we've got to catch up with Junpei. If _we_ had this much trouble…"

He nodded. "Yeah. Looks like the direct approach is going to be dicey, though. I think some of them are on the roof of the monorail, and we don't know when they might come in behind us. Hell, _those_ clearly got around Junpei somehow."

"_You're right,"_ Mitsuru put in. _"Iori still seems to be all right, but there are Shadows both inside and hanging on the outside."_ She paused. _"I… think you're in a better position to determine your course of action from here, Arisato. Do you have any ideas?"_

The blue-haired swordsman took a deep breath. In point of fact, he did… and he wasn't at all sure he liked it. "Yeah. Yukari and I split up."

There was silence on the other end, and Yukari stared at him. "Split up?" she repeated. "Split up _how?_ There aren't exactly multiple routes on a train! And look what's already happened with Junpei!"

"Junpei is being an idiot," Minato said flatly. "This is a pincer attack. Look, if you don't have to worry about flanking attacks, you should be able to pick off anything in front of you before it can reach, right?"

"…Yeah…"

"Okay, then. I'll just take care of the flankers." Minato took another deep breath, and hurried to the window the first Shadow had broken.

Yukari stared, realizing his intent. "Are you _crazy_? You're going on the _outside_ of a moving train?!"

"_I'd advise against that, Arisato,"_ Mitsuru agreed. _"This isn't an action movie-"_

"No, this is life or death, and we don't have time to discuss it," he interrupted. "Junpei's going to get himself killed at this rate, and if we have to fight everything we come across the hard way, the monorail will crash before we find the big bad."

There was a long pause, or at least what felt like one to his adrenaline-charged senses. _"I still don't like it,"_ Mitsuru said finally. _"But you're right, we're running out of time. Be _very_ careful up there, Arisato."_

Yukari stared at him a moment longer, visibly conflicted, then quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Watch yourself," she said quietly. "Don't die."

"Not part of my plan, no." Smiling reassuringly, Minato holstered his Evoker and squeezed her arm in turn. "I've got your back."

Pulling away, he smashed away the remaining glass with his sword, grabbed the top of the window frame, and swung himself up and out of sight.

_I am so __**totally**__ out of my mind._

* * *

Minato had faced some very eerie things in the month since joining SEES. He'd been forced into some very dangerous situations. From the night the dorm was attacked, to the hours he'd spent exploring Tartarus; and, for that matter, the incident that had changed everything for him, over two years ago. Danger wasn't a stranger to him now.

_**But this is different, is it not?**_

Landing with his feet on top of the monorail, the slipstream already tugging at his hair and coat, Minato's ears were assaulted by the howling of the wind. By the roar of the monorail itself hurtling down the track. Neither blocked out the voice in his head, even as he advanced toward the Shadows he could now see clinging to the roof ahead of him.

_**You have walked into Tartarus of your own volition, played with the weaklings you found there. But you, too, have seen true Hades… yet never chosen that path.**_

Minato set himself and took a determined step, teeth gritted against the wind. His coat caught the wind, threatening to throw him off-balance, but he fought it; Eurydice gripped in one hand, his other shielded his face, and he took another step. Then one more.

_**Ten years ago. Two years ago. Last month. The true dangers have come upon you unaware; you have survived them, but never entered them knowingly.**_

He knew this was insane, even as he began to pick up the pace, gaze focused on the first Shadow that might potentially enter the monorail from the sides and threaten his friends. Mitsuru-senpai was entirely correct: this was no action movie, and he was no actor, no stunt man with cushioning just off-camera in case he fell. For a regular school kid to try and fight on top of a moving train was the height of insanity.

_**This is different. You see what lies before, self of my self. What lies before you on this path is a return to Hades, to that which brought you the greatest pain. Do you not see that?**_

Minato slipped, and almost fell; but rather than try to catch himself, he snarled aloud and pressed forward, turning his momentum into a run. What was it he'd heard somewhere? That when you stumbled, your choices were to try and take the fall… or run forward, and keep going?

He would _not_ fall. Not today. Not with everything on the line.

He thought he could hear music in the back of his mind, the stringed instrument of the heretofore silent Persona that spoke to him now. Strains of uncertainty, he thought, of waiting.

The first Shadow was almost in reach now, and it knew it: a blast of bitter, sharp cold blew toward him, threatening to impale him if it struck.

_**Hades itself lies before you, young one, just as it did then. Are you truly willing to step forth into the fires of Hell itself once more?**_

Minato bared his teeth in a snarl, and hurled himself forward and to one side, letting the spikes of ice flash harmlessly past. He was in range at last, and though his balance was uncertain, his blade was anything but, lancing out to catch the Shadow in the center of mass, tearing up and out through its mask.

It turned to a puff of smoke and ichor; and even as it died, another reached out for him with a flurry of knife strikes, trying to fillet him while he was still off balance. They found only his coat, though, and clashed with a clank and a screech of metal-on-metal.

Still using his momentum to propel himself forward, never letting himself fall, Minato yelled wordlessly at the Shadow. Unable to stop, unable to swing his sword from his posture, he body-checked it; the energy transfer blasted it off the train entirely, and the rebound pushed him back onto solid footing.

"I've never _left_ that hell!" he shouted to the uncaring heavens. "I chooseth this fate of mine own free will! For them, for my _friends_, I'll brave those fires, and lead us all back out again!"

In the back of his mind, the Persona Orpheus, personification of his greatest failure, seemed to pause. Then-

_**Perhaps this time will be different, my Master. Let us play the song, then! Of hope, and life!**_

In the back of Minato's mind, the strings rose into a melody of triumph, even as he lurched back into motion and neared the edge of the first car.

Setting himself to leap to the next, he smiled to himself, adrenaline pumping ever more strongly in his veins. _I'm still _completely_ out of my mind._

He jumped.

* * *

Rushing forward through the interior of the monorail, Junpei's face was a mask of anger. His fingers still hurt like hell from nearly being ripped off by the doors, the more so now that they were tightly curled around the hilt of his heavy sword.

The pain was only a distant thing, though; he knew full well Yukari could fix him up just fine when there was time. Or even -his face contorted even more- the "leader", with his multiplicity of Personas. A minor thing like battered fingers was nothing.

A Shadow came at him from the side just as he neared the door to the next car, and he lashed out angrily with his katana, catching it in what passed for its "neck". What he lacked in finesse -another flash of resentment as he remembered the "leader's" smooth, economical movements- he made up for in strength, splattering the abomination against the wall. Greasy smoke and evaporating ichor was all that remained to mark its death.

_Tch! See, "Leader"? I can handle myself just fine!_

Junpei kicked open the door and let his sword lead him into the next compartment. So far, he'd managed just fine, and he felt a smug satisfaction over the fact. Their senpai had overlooked him all this time, always gave the blue-haired transfer student the authority and the respect, as if the quiet swordsman was the only one who could do the job.

It had been like that from the day he arrived, Junpei saw now. In school, Minato Arisato was popular, respected for always having the right answer; what might have caused resentment instead seemed to make everyone love him, like he was doing everybody a "favor" by quietly giving out the right answers when other students faltered.

Pounding forward, Junpei swung his sword from side to side, wide arcs meant to fend off any flanking attack; and even that made Junpei's teeth grind together. _Always has the right answer, and he's even the Kendo Team's "rising star". Tch!_

And in SEES. Right from the start, before they'd even fought together, their senpai had instantly selected Minato as "field leader", just 'cause he'd gotten lucky once. Every time they went to Tartarus, it was Minato who took the lead, and now there wasn't even any discussion of it.

A Shadow reared up in front of him, preparing a blast of wind. Just out of range of his sword, and Junpei knew that Garu spell would be bad news if it hit. _But I'm not helpless here, either!_

Tossing his sword to his offhand, Junpei yanked out his Evoker, pressing it to his temple. "Hermes! Burn this sunnovabitch!"

His Persona manifested in ghostly form; the ball of fire that lanced from its hands was anything but, and tore the Shadow into burning flinders before more than a light breeze could come up. The sight of it disappearing in flames brought a tight grin to Junpei's face.

Minato was always preaching about caution, just like Mitsuru-senpai. Even now, when they had no time to lose, the swordsman wanted to "take it slow". Well, as far as Junpei was concerned, that just showed he couldn't take the pressure of a real crisis.

Junpei knew better. He'd show them all how it should _really_ be done. Hell, he'd show them he didn't even need help to kill this thing! He couldn't wait to see Minato's face when simple, direct, practical methods won the day over "caution" and fancy footwork.

When Junpei showed them that it took more than a fancy coat to make a leader.

He was getting close now, he was sure. He'd faced enough Shadows by now to have gotten a feel for the monsters, and he was positive he was getting close to the boss of the weaklings that had stood in his way so far. The weaklings that, contrary to Minato and Mitsuru-senpai's warnings, hadn't done anything clever at all.

_Heh! Tonight Junpei Iori is gonna be the MVP, baby!_

Mitsuru-senpai had tried to get through to him several times since he'd left the others, he was fairly sure, but he hadn't paid much attention. Junpei couldn't see any real need for "support" from someone who couldn't even help out directly, anyway, so her calls were nothing but a distraction; if he _had_ taken the time to listen, he'd probably have more than just his busted fingers to worry about.

Seeing nothing else in this car, Junpei grinned again and broke into a run. The next car, or the one after, he figured. Then he'd finish this, take Minato's ego down just a peg or two, finally get the recognition he-

"Dammit, Stupei, _look out!"_

Junpei almost ignored Yukari's shout from behind, just as he'd ignored Mitsuru-senpai's calls. After all, Yukari couldn't even fight at arm's length, and on top of that suffered from confidence issues exactly the opposite of Minato's. _He_ knew what he could handle, and didn't need-

Glass shattered on either side of him, and-_behind?!_

Shadows crashed in from the windows directly flanking him, bracketing him; making matters worse, ones behind him came calling, too. Even as Junpei spun, trying to engage the Shadow on his left, one slammed right into his back, knocking him to the floor.

_Oh, sh-!_

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yukari nock an arrow and let fly faster than he'd ever seen her move, the shaft burying itself deep into the mask of the Shadow he'd tried for in the first place. Another arrow blurred out from her quiver, was nocked, and flew across the compartment.

None of which helped the fact that a knife was plunging directly toward the back of Junpei's neck, and there was nothing he could do about it. He flailed, trying to knock the Maya loose, but it held on with an inhumanly strong grip-

The windows exploded in flame, shattering those that still remained. The Shadow on Junpei's right was caught in the conflagration and simply disappeared; the others, including the one on his back, just kept coming. Briefly. A boot followed the flames into the compartment, bashing the Shadow right out the opposite window, and a figure in black somersaulted inside.

Minato rolled to his feet, blade slicing out in the process to gut a Maya attempting to hamstring Junpei. His coat was fluttering in the breeze from the shattered windows, remnants of the flames rolling down it, soot scattering away.

The swordsman casually swiped his blade through the air, shaking off the bits of Shadow ichor like a Samurai in a Kurosawa flick. His expression was just as calm, too.

Coat fluttering like that, face so damned composed, sword ever-so-casually posed, Minato cut an impressive figure.

Junpei's teeth ground so hard he thought they might break.

* * *

When Minato swung clear outside the train and on _top_ of it, Yukari thought her heart would stop. Despite his arguments and reassurances, she knew it was insanely dangerous; the sort of thing you saw in action movies, not real life.

She'd followed the "plan" anyway, to the best of her ability. Which hadn't taken much, since the cars ahead had been pretty much empty of anything save coffins; presumably from Junpei's passage, and Minato managing to keep up his end of things.

She'd had to kill exactly two Shadows during most of the run, which she presumed had come from the roof between Junpei's attack and Minato beginning to clear the outside. That was both good and bad. On the one hand, it meant she was mostly safe; on the other, it gave her time to wonder what was going on above, something not helped by noticing at least one explosion along the way.

Having caught up with Junpei, Yukari wasn't surprised to see him charging blindly ahead. The surprising thing was that he apparently hadn't gotten himself shish-kabobbed along the way. Unlike him, though, she could see Shadows clinging to the car's windows, just about to turn his clear run into a death trap.

That he hadn't listened to her warning wasn't terribly surprising either. Frightening, though. _Very_ frightening. Especially since, even with the archery skills Minato had embarrassed her by praising so highly, she knew she couldn't possibly get them all in time. They'd swarmed, and she was still trying to figure out how to get the one on Junpei's back without killing him in the process when the windows exploded.

_Yeah, that's the kind of thing you see in action movies,_ Yukari thought, awed, when Minato burst back into the monorail. _And what do you think fighting monsters in a moving train is? Normal? To anybody else, this _would_ look like an action movie!_

Minato certainly looked the part, with his new coat and that sword. His hair was mussed, but from his expression, you'd never guess he'd just fought a battle on top of a moving train. His face seemed to say, _Nothing to worry about, just another day at the office._

Yukari thought she'd never seen anything quite so impressive in her life.

From the look on his face, Junpei seemed to agree, and to resent the fact. "Tch. Playin' the hero again?" he sneered, hauling himself to his feet and dusting off bits of Shadow. "Nice trick, Minato, but I coulda handled them just fine!"

"Don't be an idiot, Junpei!" Yukari snapped, before Minato could reply. "He just saved your life! Which he wouldn't have _had_ to do if you hadn't run off like that!"

"Yeah? And what do _you_ know about-"

"_Pardon me for interrupting,"_ Mitsuru said sharply, _"but I must remind you there is little time. Now that you've regrouped, move ahead and defeat the main threat before it's too late!"_

Minato nodded sharply, seemingly unruffled. "We're good to go, Senpai." He cast a look at Junpei, which seemed to Yukari's eyes to mix annoyance and resignation. "Come on, let's hurry."

Junpei huffed. "Oh, _now_ he says to hurry…" he muttered under his breath. "Not like we'd have gotten this far this fast if I hadn't cleared the way…" A snort. "Fine, then, _Leader._ Let's go."

* * *

Leading the way into the next compartment, Minato's heart was beating faster than it had in years. Even after having done it, he knew he'd come within centimeters of falling to his death more than once while battling atop the monorail, and his stunt at the end had been pure insanity.

He'd intended the Agi spell to be much more contained, and he wouldn't have flung himself so recklessly through the window if Junpei hadn't been within seconds of missing his vocal cords and various other essentials in that region. As it was, he'd nearly fried his friends, and could've all too easily broken Junpei's neck in the process of giving that Shadow the boot.

The whole thing had been a series of instinctive decisions made with no time to think, and one tiny slip would've been catastrophe. And Minato knew it, all too well.

Maintaining his sangfroid in the aftermath was easier than he'd expected, though. Junpei acting like a cocky idiot and apparently taking the position that Minato was just trying to look cool had replaced much of the reactive anxiety with sheer annoyance.

_One of these days,_ he promised himself,_ we're going to have a talk about this "Leroy Jenkins" habit of his. And find out what the hell is eating him. Before something _really_ eats him._

_**May I volunteer, Master?**_

It was Pixie in the back of his mind again, Orpheus having fallen back into his habitual silence. Overall, Minato wasn't complaining; her snark was a welcome distraction, under the circumstances.

With the group reunited, even Junpei -reluctantly- acceding to a coherent strategy, most of the rest of the run went smoothly. The Shadows that still stood between them and their goal were little threat to a well-coordinated team.

As they pounded toward the door leading to the front-most car, Mitsuru's voice crackled in his ear again. _"You're almost there,"_ she said. _"Right through that door. Hurry, you only have a couple of minutes before the point of no return!"_

"Understood." Sharing a quick glance with Yukari, then Junpei, Minato turned back to the door, and gave it a single, solid kick.

Oddly enough, the figure that awaited them was probably the least outlandish Shadow-form Minato had yet seen. It was several times the size of a normal human, but proportionally it looked like a reasonably normal woman. Proportionally. The fact that it was black on one side, white on the other, wore a butterfly-like mask, and was connected to the monorail by what looked like computer cables where hair should have been…

_That ain't normal._

"What the _hell_ is that thing?!"

Mitsuru, for once, seemed rather in agreement with Junpei. _"Its Arcana is Priestess. Beyond that… I have no idea. I'll try to analyze it, but there's not much time!"_

"Okay. Plan Z," Minato announced.

Yukari glanced at him, breathing quickening. "Plan Z?"

"Wing it."

That, at least, got Junpei's approval, but Minato wasn't even looking at the Man in the Hat. "Winging it" or not, he needed a second to get _some_ idea of what he was facing… _Okay,_ he thought, eyes darting from one part of the Shadow to another, _I think we can assume this one isn't too mobile. But that doesn't mean it won't have its own dangers; hell, all it'd have to be is a little too durable, and we're all dead. I don't think that's going t be-_

His racing thoughts were interrupted when the Shadow waved a hand, making one of the odd squeaking/grunting noises that Shadows "communicated" with. In a puff of smoke that seemed an inverse of what happened when a Shadow took three feet of steel to the face, a smaller Shadow materialized to the Priestess' right.

Essentially a cloak wearing a mask and a horned hat; Minato recognized it as a Muttering Tiara, several of which he'd already killed this particular night. On its own, not especially threatening… Then another appeared to the left, which admittedly didn't actually surprise him.

_Okay. Flunky boss. Fine, you wanna play by RPG rules? I can do that, too._

The Priestess muttered to itself again; this time, whatever it was doing seemed a little more complex, and Minato didn't waste the gap. "Yukari, take the Tiaras," he said sharply. "Keep them off us; Junpei and I will go straight in."

"Got it!"

"Awright, that's more like it!"

Junpei had barely finished acknowledging when Minato charged forward, Eurydice held out to one side. They had, he estimated, no more than three minutes left to get to the brakes, so the time for waiting was-

The Priestess finished muttering, waved a hand again, and a blast of cold air slammed into Minato's face.

He'd been hit with the class of spells SEES had dubbed "Bufu" before, and while he hadn't enjoyed it, he knew he could deal with it. He could dodge it if he saw it coming fast enough, he could counter with Orpheus' fire, or if absolutely necessary he could simply tank it and keep going, counting on Yukari to heal the attendant frostbite. Hours in Tartarus had taught him well both his own limits and those of the enemy.

This was different. The cold wind filled the compartment, unrelenting and without gap to dodge through; if a normal Bufu spell was like getting hit with the frozen snowball from Hell, this was the winds of Cocytus itself, the hellish cold of the Ninth Circle. There was no evasion, and trying to tank it made Minato feel as if his eyebrows were going to freeze and snap off.

His quick, decisive advance was slowed to a crawl, and he heard Junpei say something he would ordinarily have chided him for. Off to one side, he could also just barely see one of Yukari's arrows fly into a wall, knocked off course by the wind. _Crud!_ If this kept up, his feet were going to freeze to the floor, which would be bad for all manner of interesting reasons.

Not if he could help it. "Junpei! Fire, now!"

Junpei shot him the first unreservedly approving look since the incident had begun -possibly because he, too, was in danger of freezing to death- and drew his Evoker in unison with Minato. "C'mon, then! _Hermes!"_

"Orpheus!"

Junpei Iori wasn't one for finesse; his results were _usually_ somewhat akin to the accidental explosion Minato had caused earlier. Right now, though, that was exactly what was needed, and the twin bursts of fire from Orpheus and Hermes cut through the wind and turned bitter winter to warm summer, if only for an instant.

"_That's it!"_ Mitsuru called. _"Its only real strength is Ice; if you can keep the heat on, you can counter it!"_

Minato's extremities were still feeling stiff, which told him he'd taken genuine harm before the counterattack. Even so, there was enough of a reprieve now for him to lurch back into motion, and he used it to the fullest. Before the wind could pick up again, he rushed forward, switching to a two-handed grip on his sword; with a yell, he charged not for the Priestess' main body, but rather for one of the ribbon-cables connecting it to the monorail itself.

Junpei saw what he was doing, and altered his own headlong charge to go after the opposite side; the Muttering Tiara that floated in his path took an arrow to the mask an instant before he reached it, leaving him free to plow through its smoky remains, set himself, and launch into a leaping, overhand slash.

The two swordsmen struck their targets simultaneously. Blades sharpened by the power f Persona, they cut straight through, releasing more of the ichor that passed for the abominations' blood. The monorail rumbled as the cables released-but did not slow.

That much Minato unfortunately expected. The shriek of agony from the Priestess also wasn't exactly surprising, and he set himself to counter another burst of killing cold.

The telekinetic punch that flung him back across the compartment wasn't quite what he had in mind.

Junpei released a yowl at the same time, having been struck similarly. Their expletives when they hit the walls were also an impressive exercise in synchronicity, along with the thuds as they hit the floor, stunned and out of breath.

"Guys!" There was a _twang_, a whistle, and a shriek from a Tiara impaled by another of Yukari's arrows; then another _twang_ and a deeper sound of distress from the Priestess itself. Minato hardly noticed, head swimming, lungs aching from the harsh impact. All he _could_ feel for a moment was pain, his hand only barely keeping hold of Eurydice.

Then, "Io!"

The pain was washed away like the world's best painkiller, clearing Minato's head and vision both. "I…I'm okay," he croaked, hauling himself to his feet. "Thanks, Yukari." He bared his teeth in what only a saint could call a smile. "Junpei… let's _kill_ this thing."

"_Hell,_ yeah!"

The wind had started again, in the delay, but it wasn't as strong as before. Minato guessed severing a couple of the cables had done the Priestess real damage, possibly akin to what it had just done to them; either way, he was not inclined to give it another chance to turn him into a popsicle.

He didn't need to say a word to Junpei this time. They both knew just what was needed, and this time, the flames of their Personas not only cleared a path through the wintry chill, but blazed through to scorch the Priestess itself.

It screeched again in agony, launching another telekinetic counterattack; this time, though, they were ready for it, and the swordsmen's charge was an unpredictable zigzag. A couple more windows were smashed to pieces, but they were unharmed, and unslowed.

_I don't like to hit girls,_ Minato thought distantly, rushing the abomination, _but I make exception for monsters trying to kill me!_

Especially when he was about two minutes from death-by-train-wreck.

He went left, Junpei went right, and neither of them pulled punches. A stab in the side from Eurydice; another pair of cables chopped down with a single mighty swing of Junpei's heavy sword. An attempted counterattack from the Priestess blasted a hole in the wall, while a Tiara attempted to flank them and got turned into a pincushion for its pains.

The air was getting colder by the moment, the Priestess evidently trying to kill them by indirect means now; but Minato was sure they had the upper hand. It was tough, yes, far tougher than anything he'd faced since that night at the dorm, but they had its measure now.

"_Just a little more!"_ Mitsuru announced. _"Hurry, you don't have much-"_

Something they did struck a nerve, or maybe the Priestess was just getting desperate. Either way, the blast of winter air was unlike anything it had done thus far, seeming to combine horrible cold with the powerful telekinesis that had hammered the forwards earlier. It was also farther-reaching; even Yukari wasn't out of range.

One moment Minato was thrusting Eurydice approximately where a human's liver would be. The next, he was flung backwards into the wall, and stuck there by a layer of ice and paralyzing cold. A shouted expletive and a scream informed him that Junpei and Yukari had likewise suffered… and with Yukari out, help wasn't going to come so easily.

Cold. If there was one thing Minato Arisato hated, it was cold, far more than even the fires he vaguely remembered from a totaled car. Cold sapped the strength, sapped the mind; cold killed, took everything away from him…

_**No, young Master. It does not have to end this way. Not in Ice. Not while we still draw breath. That power lies within us, when the mind draws on more than just one facet…**_

Minato blinked slowly, almost focusing on the Priestess. Seeming to float between him and the abomination were a pair of cards, Orpheus and another; he vaguely recognized it as Apsaras, a Hindu deity if he remembered right, but what was the point-

_Of course. I… I _can_ do that, can't I? That's part of what this power _means…

Gritting his teeth, fighting to ignore the cold, Minato broke one arm free of the ice holding him against the wall. Moving with all the haste he could muster, he managed to snatch out his Evoker, and focused his mind on something he hadn't yet attempted, but knew he could, _must,_ do.

"Orpheus! Apsaras! _Cadenza!"_ Then, as soothing warmth began to flow over him, and through him toward the others, "Junpei, one more time! _Burn it!"_

Junpei, once the terrible frostbite on his face and even the earlier ravaging of his hands began to fade, needed no encouragement. "All right, then, you sunnovabitch! _Go to hell!"_

"Io, now!"

Junpei had said, one idle night, that he didn't deal well with wind because it "put out his flames". By the same token, though, wind could _fan_ flames, and Yukari's contribution sent the fire of Hermes across the compartment in a wave exceeding Minato's earlier explosion. Even the Priestess' cold couldn't so much as slow it down, and the shriek of agony turned into an ear-splitting howl.

Every inch of the massive Shadow erupted into flame, burning away its connection to the monorail, and finally itself. Anticlimactically, compared to the brutal fight it had put up, the Priestess fell back and dissolved into much the same oily smoke and ichor as its lesser minions, and then even that was gone.

As it died, Minato fell to floor, freed from the remnants of its ice. Deep inside him, too, he felt something strange, almost like… He wasn't sure, actually, just that it was strange. Right now, though, he figured it wasn't worth bothering about. The battle was, at least, over.

But not the war.

"Dammit!" Junpei snarled, dropping his sword. "Dammit, dammit, we're still moving!"

"_What are you waiting for?!"_ Mitsuru demanded, calm fraying. _"There's a train just ahead!"_

Yukari looked about wildly, before settling her gaze on the control room, just past where the Shadow had died/ "We-we gotta hit the brakes!"

"How?!" Junpei demanded. "I don't know jack about trains!"

_Crud. Crud. Crud!_

Flinging Eurydice aside, Minato rushed forward, shoving Junpei out of the way. He ducked into the control room-

The monorail shook violently, throwing them from their feet, and Yukari screamed.

Then, with a start, realized the shaking hadn't been a collision. Wasn't the last thing she'd hear before her death. In fact, while things were getting quieter, it very obviously wasn't the quiet of dead ears, but rather the wind beyond the shattered windows dying down, the rumble from the wheels on the track slowing.

"Are we… alive?" Junpei breathed, shaking pushing himself to his feet.

"We made it in time…?" Yukari whispered, coming to her knees.

"_What happened?"_ Mitsuru called. _"Is everything all right?"_

Minato walked back out of the control cab, looking a little unsteady. "Situation under control," he reported. "I think our wits were the only casualties."

"You can say that again," Yukari agreed, laughing unsteadily. "My knees are kinda weak now!"

"Dude," Junpei concurred. "I haven't sweated that much since my last exams." He stumbled back a few paces, and collapsed onto one of the benches.

Mitsuru heaved an audible sigh of relief. _"I'm glad to hear it,"_ she said fervently. _"I'm so sorry I couldn't do more from my end… But you all did a superb job. I'm very impressed. I don't detect any more Shadows, so come on home. You've more than earned some rest."_

"You can say that again." Yukari dropped onto the bench opposite Junpei. "But, Minato… how'd you know which one was the brake? Don't tell me you've studied up on monorails 'just in case'… have you?"

Junpei leaned forward, eager to hear the answer himself. "Yeah, c'mon, man. Even for you, that's too much studying!"

Minato leaned back against one wall, trying to look casual… and, for once, failing miserably. If nothing else, the fact that he was visibly shaking spoiled the effect. "I didn't have a clue," he admitted softly. "There wasn't time to think about it, so I just… pushed buttons at random, really."

Somewhat to his surprise, that prompted a laugh from Junpei. It was, however, perhaps too much for the Man in the Hat, who promptly fell back again, wheezing from exertion.

Yukari, by contrast, only smiled a little sheepishly. "Well, that's better than _I_ managed. You saved me again, y'know… Thanks."

Minato shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Call it even. I'd have been dead before then without your support." He pushed away from the wall. "Anyway. Mitsuru-senpai has the right idea: let's go home and get some sleep, ne?"

Even Junpei, who'd found several reasons to be yet more resentful that night, had no argument on that one. They'd just killed an eldritch abomination and survived a train wreck in the making; what other high school kids could say _that?_

"Just one thing, dude: we are _so_ having ramen when we get back. I am _starving!"_

* * *

Author's note:

* * *

Okay, I admit two _years_ is a bit much of a delay, even for me. Sorry, comrades, I really didn't mean for it to take this long; but as some of you know, I've had one hell of a rough ride IRL for the past two or three years. I'll try not to take quite so long for the next chapter, but I really can't make any promises on timing. I _can_ promise, however, that this fic is _not_ abandoned, and is in fact pretty carefully planned out. Well, in terms of general flow, anyway. I freely admit to making up most of the day-to-day stuff as I go along.

Really sorry about the reviews I never got around to replying to last time; I assure you I'll try to be better about that this time around, assuming anyone is still interested enough in the project.

That said, not only is this project not abandoned, but I have a spin-off in the works. As made plain early on, this is a Minato-Mitsuru fic; now, however, I have a kind of AU version planned that will focus on a different pairing. More akin to a one-shot collection than a full novelization -in part because I doubt I'd ever get it written if I tried to make it as big as _Defiance_ proper- it'll draw heavily on the characterization and backstory established by _Defiance,_ but with certain twists.

Tentative title is _Persona: The Sixth Arcana Variation._ That, I think, should be a fairly big clue as to what that version's pairing will be.

All that said, I hope some of you guys are still reading this. If so, please let me know if it was even remotely worth the wait. Merry Christmas, my comrades. -Solid


	5. Chapter V: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Saturday, May 9th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Akihiko had been on tenterhooks for almost an hour now, waiting for news from the dorm's Command Room. It was infuriating enough that he'd been kept out of the operation, on the basis of his wounds not being _quite_ healed enough. He at least understood the reasoning behind that, however much it irritated him. The fact that he'd heard almost nothing since the operation began… That was worse. Much worse.

He thought he knew _why_ Mitsuru hadn't contacted him, of course. Her abilities did have something of a range limit, and she was undoubtedly busy providing direct support to the field team. He couldn't contribute anything from the dorm, so it was far more important that she keep focused than provide him with updates just to make him feel better.

Behind him, oddly breathing a little heavily, Ikutsuki noticed the boxer's unease. "I'm sure it's all right, Akihiko," he said soothingly. "If anything had truly gone wrong, Mitsuru would've told us by now. 'No news is good news', after all!"

…_Well at least it wasn't a pun for once,_ Akihiko thought sourly. _I'll take cliché over the alternative._

"I'm sure it is," he said aloud. "But the Dark Hour is almost over. If they don't finish up soon…"

"Have faith, Akihiko. They've all fought Shadows before now." Ikutsuki smiled. "And you were the one who picked the team leader, weren't you? Trust your own judgment a little. We've all seen Minato-kun in action by now."

"…That's true enough." Junpei, or even Yukari, Akihiko wouldn't have felt too confident trusting with a mission like this, however skilled they might be in direct combat. Their resident amateur detective, on the other hand, had proven to have a cool head under pressure to go with his instincts and swordsmanship.

_Still doesn't make me feel any better about this, though. Dammit, if I don't hear something soon, I'm going out there and-_

The console that had once been used to observe Minato Arisato in his sleep suddenly buzzed, and Akihiko slapped a switch on pure reflex. "Command Room," he snapped. "Mitsuru, is that you?"

"_It's me,"_ the redheaded senior confirmed. _"Mission successful. As we surmised, it was the same kind of Shadow as attacked the dorm last month, but our team handled it quite well. …I'm afraid there will be some questions in the morning about how the monorail jumped a couple of kilometers, and some windows were broken, but otherwise there's no notable damage."_

Akihiko sagged in his chair, and Ikutsuki sighed audibly in relief. "That's far better than the alternative," he said. "When I heard the monorail was the target, I was afraid we'd be seeing headlines about destroyed city blocks in the morning. I trust everyone is all right?"

"_No major injuries,"_ Mitsuru replied. _"Once again, the power of Persona has proven itself; I'll give you a full report in the morning. In the meantime, we're on our way back now."_ She paused, about to sign off. _"Oh, yes: a unanimous request from the team. Could you have ramen waiting for them? They expended quite a lot of energy tonight."_

Akihiko grinned, for once sharing Ikutsuki's obvious amusement. "I think we can handle that, Mitsuru. At least I'll have done _something_ useful tonight."

"_Merci! We'll be back soon. Mitsuru out."_

The connection snapped off, and Ikutsuki leaned heavily against the wall. "Well, the worst case scenario was averted, somehow. I guess our team really _is_ up to the job." He yawned. "Well, Akihiko, if you're willing to handle the food, I think I'm going to go home. I'm really very tired."

Akihiko glanced over at the chairman, and noticed for the first time that he looked more fatigued than lack of sleep or even the Dark Hour could fully account for. "Mister Chairman, why do you look like you just ran a marathon?" A sudden thought occurred to him. "Wait a second… I saw a bicycle outside earlier. Don't tell me…?"

Ikutsuki chuckled self-consciously. "Well, you know, Mitsuru has the only motor vehicle that's been modified to work in the Dark Hour." He groaned suddenly, clutching at his back. "Oh, man, I'm gonna be _so_ sore in the morning… Akihiko, I'll leave the rest up to you."

The chairman exited, a tad hurriedly to the boxer's eyes.

Akihiko shook his head ruefully. "Hell of a night," he commented to himself. "Hell of a night… Well," he went on, standing up, "I guess that ramen's not going to make itself. Hm… Minato likes his spicy, doesn't he…?"

* * *

Sunday, May 10th, 2009, Very Early Morning

* * *

Stepping off the monorail back at the Iwatodai end of the track felt both good and a little odd to Minato. The train SEES had taken in the other direction was now out of order, scheduled to have its mysteriously broken windows replaced while an investigation was mounted into just how it had gone so badly off schedule.

Attempting to be nonchalant about getting on the return train had been one of the bigger acting challenges he'd had in his life. After all, he and his team were largely responsible for the broken windows.

_Okay,_ he admitted to himself, _technically _I'm_ largely responsible. But hey. I'm sure they'd thank me if they knew just how much worse it could've been._

_**Either that, or bill you for it, Master.**_

_Oh, shut up._

Mitsuru had gone ahead of them to report, so once again it was just the blue-haired swordsman, the impeccable archer Yukari, and the irrepressible Junpei. Yukari looked about as tired as Minato felt, while the Man in the Hat was still grinning, clearly hopped up on adrenaline.

_Feh. Like he didn't just come with an inch of getting knifed in the back ten minutes ago._

"I'm really glad it's a Sunday," Yukari said with a sigh, following her leader on the thankfully short walk back toward the dorm. "I'm gonna have a midnight snack, then probably sleep 'til noon. I don't even want to think about how bad this would be if we had to go to school in a few hours."

That suggestion was enough to curb Junpei's enthusiasm. Slightly. "Man, I hear ya, Yuka-tan." He shuddered dramatically. "School's bad enough when I _haven't_ stayed up all night. Just think if we had exams, too…" He shot a glance at Minato, expression briefly twisting. "Not that that would bother _some_ of us, right?"

Minato didn't know what Junpei's problem was. Nor, frankly, did he really care just then. "Even I have to study, Junpei. And even I can't write if I'm dead on my feet." He glanced over his shoulder at the station, shrinking with distance. "If I never have to do that again, it'll be too soon."

He'd done some insane things in his life, he admitted. The scar on his shoulder was proof of that. But even by his standards, fighting monsters on the roof of a moving train went beyond as banal a description as "insane". By his -conservative- count, he could've died at least three different ways with the slightest misstep, and that was _without_ taking into account the Shadows' attacks.

_And I loved it,_ Minato was forced to admit, very privately. _While I was doing it, I was scared out of my mind… but I loved it. I haven't done something so challenging since… I don't know. Maybe never. Everything depended on me getting everything right._

_I'd do it again in a heartbeat. …Aw, hell. I really _am_ starting to sound like Akihiko-senpai, aren't I?_

About a block from the dorm, the wind caught at his coat, staggering him for a second. Tired as he was, it took him a second to get it back under control; when he had, he found both Yukari and Junpei looking at it, the latter with a curiously unreadable expression.

"…What?"

"…Just thinking that it suits you pretty well," Yukari said, shaking herself. "It's actually pretty cool. But… doesn't it get in the way when you fight?"

"Caused me some trouble on the roof," Minato admitted sheepishly. "The wind kept catching it. But actually, long coats do have their uses in combat; done right, you can confuse your opponent with it. And this one in particular?" He raised one sleeve and shook it, producing a slight clanking sound. "Titanium chainmail, between two layers of Kevlar. If I hadn't been wearing this, I wouldn't have even considered going through those windows."

Her eyes widened in comprehension. "I did kinda wonder about that…"

They were approaching the dorm itself now, and as Minato climbed the steps to the front door, he glanced over his shoulder. "Of course, practicality aside, I had another reason. Maybe it's not the smartest position, but… I've always felt that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing in _style."_

He turned back as he opened the door, and so completely missed the ugly look that crossed Junpei's face.

* * *

_I begin to feel again._

_How long has it been? I am still in standby mode; only the smallest fraction of my cognitive functions are active, but even that much has been dormant for some time. I was shut down… How long ago? I cannot tell; my chronometer is still offline._

_Why am I awakening? I feel… something. Years ago, I believe, something occurred. I cannot remember what, but I feel… Is this unease? As if something is awakening. Something that must not awaken is stirring._

_I am a weapon. I should not feel. I should not even reach this level of awareness without my masters rousing me from standby mode. What is happening?_

_I faintly perceive my maintenance chamber. I have no motor control, however, and only ten percent of my sensory input. My limited sensors show nothing had changed in my chamber since entering standby mode. Whatever has stirred my awareness is not here._

_My database appears to have suffered damage during whatever event resulted in my being placed on standby. The unease seems to be connected to corrupted data; I cannot access an explanation._

…_I should not be activating. Unless and until my masters have call for me again, I am to obey my last orders, and remain on standby._

_I feel a shadow in my mind, stirring something in the Papillon Heart that serves as my soul, but it cannot be quantified. It is… irrelevant. This is not the time to awaken._

_Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon 007, returning to full standby mode. End line._

* * *

Afternoon

* * *

Suppressing a yawn, Minato thanked the proprietor of Octopia and headed off. His muscles were still stiff from the previous evening's excursion, and he was pretty sure he'd need a nap when he got back to the dorm, but for now, he thought it was important not to let his body get too stiff.

_Besides, I felt like a little… whatever the hell this stuff is. I'm pretty sure it isn't technically takoyaki if it doesn't actually have any octopus in it, but it's good anyway. Almost seems to be a decent substitute for energy drinks, sometimes…_

As far as Minato could tell, there hadn't been too much of a stir from the incident with the monorail. A fair few people were talking about it, but only the way they might talk about a particularly exciting traffic accident; no hint that anybody thought it was a symptom of anything worse. A few comments about people at the monorail company being asleep on the job, but nothing worse.

For that, he was relieved. He knew nobody was likely to connect an ordinary high school student with the mess, but that didn't stop him from worrying about potential panic. Nobody knew the true story of what was going on in Tatsumi Port Island, and when people had nothing concrete to blame, things could get ugly.

_The last thing we need,_ Minato thought to himself, idly wandering in the direction of the nearby Naganaki Shrine, _is a freaked-out mob. That's not exactly likely at this point, but if incidents like this continue, it could…_

The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts -and his next bite of not-octopus- and he fished it out of his trench coat's inner pocket, grateful for the distraction. Mildly curious as to who it was -it was just a generic ring, not one of the specific ones he'd set for known callers- he flipped it open. "Yeah, Arisato."

He twitched at the small -and very recognizable- chuckle that greeted his ears. _"Yes, I know. This is Elizabeth, Minato. I thought you might be interested in some information about Tartarus?"_

Minato quickly found a bench, flopped onto it, and set his alleged takoyaki aside. "I think you can consider me intrigued, Elizabeth." _Whether about Tartarus or your use of my first name, I'll let you figure out._

Another chuckle, suggesting that, unsurprisingly, the Velvet Room attendant understood the subtext. _"I'm pleased I have your attention. Yes, it seems there's been another change in the Tower's structure. It is hard for even me to grasp much detail of the higher floors, but I believe a barrier of some sort that once impeded progress has vanished. Perhaps as a result of your efforts last evening?"_

He sat straight up. The SEES field team had, indeed, encountered an odd obstruction recently, preventing them from climbing higher. They'd speculated it to be temporary or somehow passable, given that another staircase could be seen directly behind it, but for the time being they'd been stuck.

Minato had suggested scaling it. It was not Mitsuru's skeptical look that caused him to abandon the idea, but rather that Junpei had looked enthusiastic. He was _firmly_ of the opinion that it was a bad sign when Junpei Iori agreed with him about something potentially risky.

Mitsuru and the Chairman, Minato gathered, had still been discussing the problem when the previous night's surprise had derailed exploration.

"That's… very interesting indeed," he said slowly. "And very useful news. We're so tired from last night that it'll be days before we're likely to enter Tartarus again; learning about that so early will let us plan our next exploration more carefully. Thank you."

He could see in his mind's eye, so clearly he almost thought Elizabeth was somehow projecting directly into his head, her usual enigmatic smile. _"You're very welcome, Minato. Ah, I suppose I should leave you to rest, then? I'll speak to you again… soon."_

The call disconnected on the sound of her light laugh, just as it occurred to Minato to wonder how in the world Elizabeth had gotten his number. Or, for that matter, how the _hell_ the Velvet Room had cell reception.

He sagged back against the bench. "Hell with it. I'm too tired for riddles from the other world."

"I hope you feel better soon!"

"Yeah, thanks…" Pause. "Wait. _Wha?"_

Minato snapped back upright, just in time to see the woman in the maroon suit he'd seen at the hospital over a week before turn a corner, waving jauntily at him.

He fell back again. "Hell with it. I'm going home."

* * *

Monday, May 11th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

There was something sad about the number of cracking and popping noises Minato heard on his way to school. Even after two nights -well, more like a night and a half, he conceded- of sleep and a carefully measured walk the previous day, his joints _still_ felt like they belonged to someone three times his age. Maybe four.

_Damn. Okay, one more night of sleep, then tomorrow, I start pushing Kaz harder. If a simple fight on top of a moving train is taking this much out of me, clearly I'm not indulging in enough special training._

_**Be careful what you wish for, Master.**_

_Stuff it, Pixie. Snark is _my_ job this early in the morning._

_**That was an observation, not snark. Clearly you need more rest, Master.**_

_Bleh._

Quick, energetic footsteps heralded the arrival of The Iori, looking as ebullient as usual, and scarcely a trace of the resentment he'd shown two nights before. "Yo, Minato!" he said, ever-present grin flashing in the sun. "Hell of a job we did the other night, yeah?"

Adjusting the book bag draped over his shoulder, Minato shot him a look of semi-mock disgust. "Junpei, we saved the city the other night, and I couldn't actually have done it alone. So for that, I will _not_ kill you this morning. But I _do_ insist on knowing where exactly you got all this energy. _I'm_ the one doing athletics."

Junpei's grin didn't diminish in the slightest. "Oh, that's an easy one, man: I slept all day yesterday! Worked like a charm."

"…That explains a lot." He'd wondered, not that he thought about it, just where Junpei had been. He'd feared a sulk, considering the latter's odd behavior during the monorail incident, but clearly that was unfounded.

"But seriously," Junpei went on, not looking particularly serious, "it's like you said: we saved the city! We're kinda like superheroes, y'know? Isn't that _awesome?"_

The school gate was nearing, so there wasn't time for the kind of detailed, meaningless evasion Minato would've liked to come up with under circumstances like these. There was only time for the most horrid thing of all.

"…Yeah. Kinda. It was… a thrill, I can't deny it."

"Ha! I knew it! Even you can't resist being a defender of justice!" Grinning, if anything, even wider, Junpei picked up his pace and practically strutted onto the grounds of Gekkokan High.

_I really do hate that man. For having so much damned energy this early in the morning… and, worse, for making me admit to agreeing with him on something._

* * *

Morning

* * *

"…That's problem with you students these days. You simply have no drive! You think you can just sleep through things as important as Classic Lit! Isn't that right, Junpei? Feh! Dead on your feet, when you should be learning about our great heritage of culture and literacy!"

_Well, apparently I have my revenge. I'm not sure if it's worth it._

Mister Ekoda was on the warpath about Classic Lit and how lazy students were. As usual. He also, as usual, pretty obviously wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the students he was lecturing, because to Minato's eye, Junpei was probably the most alert-looking one in the class. Annoyed, bored, things like that, sure. Sleepy? Not this time.

By contrast, he could see Kaz muttering to himself in the back, probably about kendo; he'd been ranting about some big-shot contender from another school lately, and seemed about ready to pour on _even more_ enthusiasm during Team meetings, if such were possible. Admittedly, just then Minato was perfectly happy to take him up on it.

Two other students he could see were perfectly alert, just talking about something completely different from Classic Lit. Girls, Minato figured; one of them he knew kept talking about which school in Port Island had the most good-looking ones.

He'd apparently decided Gekkokan won that debate, and Minato was forced to concede -_very_ privately- that he wasn't about to disagree.

That topic, alas, led him to Kenji Tomochika, who appeared to be listening very intently indeed to Ekoda's lecture. Appeared. Minato very much doubted Kenji's thoughts had anything to do with Classic Lit, or indeed that he was actually seeing the classroom itself.

_Hm… there's a thought. If I focus enough on Kenji's… ambitions… maybe I'll throw up, and get excused from the class for illness. …On second thought, this _is_ Ekoda we're talking about. I doubt he'd notice. And, hm, isn't the school nurse reputed to poison students with so-called "health drinks"?_

"…so come on, and start paying attention! Look at Arisato over there, he's at least _trying_ to show some interest…"

Junpei did, in fact, look over, and had to stifle a snicker. Sometime in the middle of Ekoda's rant, Minato had simply put his head down on his desk and gone to sleep.

* * *

After School

* * *

For all that Minato usually went about in modern, Western-styled garb, he had to admit the loose, old-style clothing that went with kendo had considerable merit. For pure, hedonistic comfort, it didn't actually get much better.

Even partly covered with padded armor, which was currently under determined assault with a long, heavy stick.

"Men!"

Minato swayed back from the strike Kaz aimed for the top of his head, and batted aside the incoming shinai when his "rival" overextended himself as a result. Taking advantage of the opening, he darted forward, only to be parried in turn.

Kaz was good, there was no denying it. Minato had probably had more intense training for the real deal, in recent years, but as far as tournament rules were concerned Kaz very probably had an edge, and he was devilishly fast. Minato had won their first bout pretty handily, but Kaz had only taken that as a challenge, and he seemed to be quite up to it.

_Heh. _Mostly,_ I say,_ Minato thought, grinning tightly behind his mask. He was soaked with sweat, now, and feeling the burn, but it was the burn of a good workout, and he just about had it-

A feint, a lightning-quick sidestep, and his shinai was past Kaz's guard. The other student's shinai came within a hair's-breadth of touching Minato's armor, and then the blue-haired swordsman swept his into the other's side.

"Point!" Yuko announced from the sidelines. "Nice job, Minato-kun! Okay, guys, let's break it up for the day."

The two bowed respectfully, peripherally aware of the other sparring team members doing the same, and gratefully stepped off the mat.

"Man, you're on a roll today, Minato," Kaz remarked, dragging off his mask. "You tryin' to kill me?"

Minato yanked off his own, allowing himself a small grin. "You bring out the best in me, Kaz. Toughen up, or I'll leave you in the dust."

Kaz's eyebrows went up. "Oh, yeah? You're gonna eat those words, Minato. You should know better than to- Ugh!"

Mid-sentence, his right leg buckled, and he almost went down. Minato, concerned, dropped his shinai and took a step forward. "Hey, you okay?"

Kaz grimaced, shifting weight to his left leg. "…Yeah. Yeah, I think I just twisted my knee a little." Breathing deeply but evenly, he gradually brought himself back to fully upright. "Yeah. I'm good. Just got a little overenthusiastic, maybe." He barked out a laugh. "Ha! Like there's any such thing. Don't let up, Minato! If we're our worst enemies, the other schools won't stand a chance!"

Minato nodded in agreement, and moved toward the locker room… but he still glanced curiously at Kaz's knee along the way.

* * *

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_If there's one non-supernatural thing about all this that baffles me,_ Minato thought, approaching the school gates in what was beginning to feel was a little _too_ familiar manner, _it's how I can take the same route every day, leaving at the same time, and run into a different person every time. I mean, hell, I _live_ with four of 'em, so how is it I don't at least run into the ones in my own class consistently?_

_**Indeed. Yesterday it was Junpei, today-**_

"Mornin', Minato!"

He turned to flash a smile at the classmate in question, slowing slightly to let her fall into step with him. As much a pain as he might find the rumors about the two of them -which, though a bit quieter now, seemed in no danger of dying out completely- he had to admit Yukari was overall a much more congenial companion than Junpei.

_**Especially in the wake of his recent odd behavior.**_ A distinct, derisive sniff. _**Iori is but a barbarian knave. He has much growing up to do before he is worthy to enter Valhalla.**_

One of these days, Minato thought, he was going to lose his mind. He'd gotten used to Pixie's snark, but the last couple of days had seen the emergence of a Persona identifying herself as Valkyrie, and she, too, had taken to kibitzing about his daily life. Karl Jung, he was sure, would've had a field day.

Ignoring the multifaceted commentary for now, he nodded back at Yukari. "Morning. You feeling okay?"

She paused for a second. "Hm? Oh." Yukari laughed lightly. "Yeah, I was pretty out of it for a while, too. I think I'm starting to catch up on sleep, though; and honestly, the news reports have helped."

"You mean about Apathy Syndrome, right?"

"Uh-huh. Looks like the number of the Lost has gone down a lot since Saturday night." She sighed, a small release of the tension that was beginning to creep up on them all. "It can't be a coincidence, right? It's… really nice to know we're actually doing some good. I was starting to wonder."

Minato nodded thoughtfully, as they stepped through the gates and headed up toward the entrance to the main building. "Yeah. We didn't really have a lot of data to go on before, but it sounds to me like Shadows like that big one have a major impact."

This close to the doors, they couldn't really talk much more, but Yukari managed one more, low-voiced comment. "I guess we just have to keep an eye out. If any more like that appear, we have to take them down before too many people get hurt…"

_**Feh! To Niflheim with them all!**_

* * *

After School

* * *

The morning had gone better -at least, to Minato's way of thinking- than the previous day, but it seemed karma had come to bite him. As he packed up his stuff and got ready to leave Gekkokan for the day, he remembered hat Kenji had, at lunch, extracted a promise of his assistance that day.

Kenji was a good kid, outside of his… interests, so Minato was willing to play along, if only to act as damage control. He was convinced it was going to blow up in Kenji's face by the end, though, which was why he was -_very_ carefully- trying to moderate his friend's enthusiasm. And either way, while it lasted it was going to be hell.

_**Ah, young love. Sometimes wonderful, sometimes painful, and sometimes it misses its mark entirely, and is not seen for what it truly is. The growing pains of youth, the-**_

_**Oh, be quiet, you twit! Our Master is having to suffer for it, and 'tis frightfully disturbing all 'round. Must you wax poetic about a youth's departure from his senses?!**_

…_**You do realize your own speech patterns are-**_

Minato rubbed his temples, listening to the two argue in the back of his mind. Of all the issues Persona use would bring with it, even he, Gekkokan's "amateur detective", hadn't anticipated having a debating society riding shotgun in his skull.

Picking up his now-packed bag, he headed for the door, hoping to just get things over with. _I could start my own Debate Team,_ he mused, sliding it open as he reached it. _I could be half the entire club, and it would _still_ be better than being Kenji Tomochika's wingman while he asks out a freakin' _teacher_ of all…_

Passing out into the hall, Minato paused, seeing a girl standing near the door to the Student Council Room. A long-haired brunette with stylish, rectangular-framed glasses, he recognized her as Chihiro Fushimi, the Treasurer; he didn't see her much outside of meetings, but the first year student was certainly distinctive.

_**She's potential, that one,**_ Valkyrie commented thoughtfully. _**Could stand for a bit more self-confidence, though. P'raps a kind word here and there? I fear that, for all their unquestioned dedication, Mitsuru-senpai and Odagiri-san are… not the most inspiring individuals. And the rest of this "Council" seems quite colorless.**_

_My thoughts exactly,_ he acknowledged, inwardly amused at a Norse-origin facet of his mind using Japanese honorifics. _On all counts, really._

_**And she's cute. The glasses-**_

_**Would you kindly **_**shut up?!**

Knowing Chihiro to be a little high-strung, Minato was careful to walk neither too loudly nor too softly, trying not to startle her. "Good afternoon, Fushimi-san," he called.

She jumped, squeaking in surprise. "Oh! S-sorry, Arisato-san," Chihiro stuttered. "I d-didn't notice you…"

Taken slightly aback, Minato quickly shook his head. "No, no. I should apologize; I didn't realize you were so distracted."

"Um… it's all right." Settling down, Chihiro attempted a polite smile. "Er… did you need something?"

"No, not really." He essayed a reassuring smile. "I just thought I should tell you I think you're doing well on the Council. I know most of the others are, well… themselves, so they might not be as appreciative as they should."

Chihiro twitched, looking as if she didn't quite know how to deal with praise. "I… um… Well, th-thank you, Arisato-san. I… I appreciate the sentiment…"

Excusing herself nervously, she went back to her own business, and Minato continued on his way, a little bit puzzled by her reaction. _Now that's a mystery I'd be happier dealing with than my actual business for the day. Well, no help for it; the sooner Kenji gets things out of his system, the sooner I can mop up the debris._

_**Aye,**_ Valkyrie agreed. _**But pray, Master, keep an eye on this one. A worthy lass to cultivate and encourage, if my opinion matters at all. Both for your sake, and perhaps especially hers.**_

_**And she's cute. Don't forget that part. If you ever get bored with the girls at the dorm, Master, she's-**_

_**Shut. UP. You. TWIT!**_

* * *

Evening

* * *

"Welcome back, Arisato. I trust you're doing well?"

Minato nodded wearily to Mitsuru as he padded into the lounge. She was sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a book; Yukari was on a couch reading a magazine, and he could see Junpei in the dining area with a bowl of ramen. "Getting better, anyway," he remarked, flopping with very little grace into the couch opposite the archer. "Just when I think I'm getting over that last battle, something else decides to mess with my life."

Yukari looked up at him. "You seemed okay this morning. Kazushi still running you ragged, or was it something to do with Kenji? I know he's been up to _something_ with you lately…"

He made a face. "Skipped Kendo today to help him, actually. And no, you don't want to know what about." He paused. "_I_ don't want to know." Another pause. "Actually, _nobody_ wants to know."

A laugh from Junpei, and Minato was almost smacked in the head with an energy drink, the latter only barely managing to catch it. "That bad, huh? You sound like you could use a pick-me-up, man!"

"Thanks." Minato cracked open the can and drank deep. "Yeah. That bad. I think Kenji's not nearly as serious as he thinks he is, and it'll probably blow over in a month or so, but for now… Ugh."

His shudder was not at all feigned. He'd not seen exactly what went down, but Kenji had enthusiastically filled him in, and he was quite convinced the infatuated student had _completely_ misinterpreted the event.

_There's more than one way to interpret the facts, Kenji, and I'm pretty damned sure someone _not_ already thinking the way you are wouldn't have come to your particular conclusion. As it is, right now I want to throw up; next week I'll probably be thinking homicide. If I wasn't pretty darn sure you're actually a really good kid under it at, I'd be very tempted to pitch you off the Moonlight Bridge right now._

_**It will pass,**_ Valkyrie commented, sounding quite grudging about it. _**I've a sense for these things, and I'm convinced he has great potential. 'Tis just buried so deep **_**I**_** want to pitch him into the fell waters. **_A sigh. _**Jack 'twould be a better one to ask than I, regardless.**_

Minato nodded to himself. Jack Frost was, so far, quieter than the debating ladies most often kibitzing on his affairs, but when he spoke it was with both mirth and surprising insight into those of a certain personality.

Mitsuru watched him curiously, over her book. From the look of things, he was discussing things with his Personas, something she found honestly intriguing. Her own Penthesilea rarely commented, and even when she did, that was only _one_ Persona. She could only imagine what it was like to have two or more chiming in.

_I'm surprised he's not starting to show strain from it. Although… being as they are, in the end, facets of his own mind, I suppose they all know how to keep from overwhelming him. Presumably, at least._

Letting no trace of her usual speculations about the nature of her mysterious comrade into her expression or voice, she restricted herself to commentary about the mundane. "I've heard a few things about Tomochika," she noted. "An honor's student, I believe; on the fast-track. Is there something I should be aware of as Student Council President?"

Minato blinked, rousing himself from his own inner debate, and grimaced. "I'm trying to keep it from reaching that level, actually. So far, it's under control; I'm already planning damage control if things do start to go crazy, though."

Mitsuru's eyebrows went up. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that… But for now, I'll trust your judgment. Do please bring it to me, however, if it does 'go crazy'. I'm counting on you to help me with Student Council; the least I can do is try and return the favor."

"Appreciated, Senpai. I just hope it doesn't come to that."

"As do I." Mitsuru nodded thoughtfully. "For the time being, though, Tomochika will probably be too busy to cause you too much trouble. He'll most likely be studying all week."

A strangled noise came from the dining area, and Yukari groaned. "You had to remind me… Mid-terms start next Monday, don't they?"

Junpei finally found his voice, having successfully self-Heimliched the ramen clog out of his throat. "Aw, man… I'd rather be on that damn train again!"

Sinking back against the couch cushions, Minato let out a long sigh. "Trust me, Junpei, there are worse things than exams. Being Kenji Tomochika's wingman, for example. I'd much rather be _your_ wingman, frankly."

That prompted a grin. "Hey, I didn't know ya cared, Minato! I'll remember that." Beat. "Uh. After exams, anyway."

Shaking her head, Yukari returned to her magazine. "I don't think that was meant as a compliment, Stupei," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Glancing furtively around on his way to school, Minato was relieved to see no one he particularly knew heading his way. Well. To be fair, there were only two he was particularly concerned about, but after the week he'd been having, he figured no company was better than either of those two.

_Okay. Kenji's usually busy on Wednesdays, for whatever reason -which I probably don't want to know- and mid-terms are coming up. That means probably no Kendo Team for a couple weeks, either, so… maybe I can relax for a little bit. Maybe get some Tartarus exploration done, too; I don't think we can afford to slack off on that._

With no one in particular to talk to, Minato resorted to another of his favored activities: people-watching. As ever, a useful barometer of the mood of the school, and to a lesser extent that of Port Island in general. Who knew, he might even get a clue about… something. Shadows, Chihiro Fushimi's skittishness, or how to stop Kenji Tomochika from self-destructing into lovelorn goo.

"Hey, did you hear? The PE teacher is in the hospital!"

"Seriously?! What happened?"

"Well, as the story goes, he was cleaning up in the gym's storage room, when suddenly an entire set of shelves fell on him! And nobody knows why!"

"Wooo… Hey, haven't there been rumors lately about a ghost hanging around the gym? Maybe…"

"H-hey, don't start talking like that! It's just rumors, that's all. It's just a coincidence. Brrr… Now I'm starting to feel a chill…"

"Hehe, you're the one who says it's just a rumor. Maybe you're catching something? You should go to the nurse's office just in case."

"Are you crazy? That nurse that looks creepy and poisons people? No thanks! I'd rather just be sick!"

"Now who's believing rumors?"

The conversation drifted out of earshot, and Minato shook his head. Not completely pointless, he supposed; it was interesting to hear that the PE teacher was going to be gone for a while. He'd never liked PE, mostly because at least half the PE _teachers_ he'd encountered had apparently washed out of the army for unnecessary roughness.

The rest… Well, he wasn't one to dismiss stories of the supernatural completely out of hand, but the average ghost story he tended to take with a grain of salt. _And seriously, poisoning students? …Okay, I guess _that_ one is pretty plausible._

_Meh. Later for that stuff. Gotta make it through the exams, first._

* * *

Morning

* * *

_Always good to have Mr. Takenozuka's class. It's only mildly dull, not insane. No talk of sweets, pretty numbers, the glory of the Samurai, or why we're all slackers._

Actually, Minato had always found Physics intriguing, even if a cursory glance at much of the higher math involved felt like ramming an ice pick directly into his brain. He wondered idly if, perhaps, he'd someday awaken a Persona which was actually good with abstract equations.

_Probably not. Alas._

"You've all heard of Sir Isaac Newton, yes?" Takenozuka asked rhetorically. "Most famous for the Theory of Gravity, and father of the basic Laws of Motion. If you _haven't_ heard that, perhaps my colleague Mister Ekoda has a point about your study habits." He smiled at this, taking the sting out of the words. Even the other teachers tended to find the Classic Lit fanatic a bit… much.

_Dull, but fair. Can't ask for more than that._

"However, even the more studious among you might not know everything about Newton. For example, did you know that, although he's known by many as the 'First Scientist', he was also known as the 'last of the alchemists'?" Takenozuka nodded at the general looks of incomprehension among the class. "Yes, indeed. I suspect Nurse Edogawa might know more about that particular subject -I believe you'll be hearing more directly from him soon; you'll understand what I mean then- but I can tell you that what we know as science was far from all there was to Sir Isaac. You may find it interesting to look it up on your own time."

Minato wasn't terribly surprised by the general reaction of his classmates. Junpei, in particular, had blanched at the idea of extra work, especially if there was any chance of it turning up on the upcoming exams. _Too bad. That's the kind of thing that makes dry classwork more interesting, if you ask me._

Takenozuka shook his head, in resignation or exasperation Minato couldn't quite tell. "Relax, class, it was only a suggestion. I think you'd get more out of what I'm teaching, but it's not really that relevant. All right, moving on… Newton's theories form much of the basis of modern science, but in the past century or so it was discovered that his Laws of Motion didn't fully explain how the universe was observed to work, particularly such things as orbital mechanics. Thus was room left for Albert Einstein to enter the picture."

_Well. At least even Junpei seems to recognize _that_ name._

The Physics teacher's eyes swept the room, and finally settled. "Ah, perfect. Minato-kun, can you tell me what Einstein's most famous theory is?"

Somewhat reluctantly -he was starting to wonder if being the go-to guy for this sort of thing was good for his standing, in the long run- Minato came to his feet. "The Theory of Relativity."

Takenozuka nodded, smiling. "Precisely. Remember that, guys, it will be on the exams next week. However," he added, raising one finger for emphasis, "also remember that Einstein isn't the end of the matter, either. Even the Theory of Relativity fails to explain some phenomena, which is where quantum mechanics come in." A beat, as if he was enjoying the horrified silence. "But don't worry, _that_ isn't on the exams." Another beat. "_This_ year, anyway."

* * *

Evening

* * *

"Aw, _man!"_ Junpei moaned, flopping over and sprawling down the entire length of one of the lounge couches. "I've got images of numbers and signs going through my head, and I don't even know what they _mean!_ Hey, Minato," he called, "whaddya say we hit Tartarus tonight, blow off some steam?"

In the dining area, looking -to Junpei's eyes- infuriatingly well-rested, Minato poured himself a glass of orange juice. "Sure you don't want to spend the night studying, Junpei? You're sounding more confident about killing monsters than answering a few questions."

The Man in the Hat scoffed. "Oh, come on, Minato, we can study any time. Saving the world, now, _that's_ important! We can catch up on everything else later."

Standing by the bookshelves to one side, Mitsuru glanced his way, one eyebrow pointedly raised. "And just how _are_ your grades doing, Iori?"

Junpei squirmed a little. "Oh, y'know, I'm… I'm getting by. How about _you,_ Senpai-" He broke off, wincing. "Never mind, forget I asked."

She smiled faintly. "For your information, Iori, I'm currently studying college-level material. Does that answer your question?"

A groan. "A little _too_ well. Man…"

Minato chuckled to himself, and took a sip of his juice. In his more charitable moments, he had to admit he at least understood, somewhat, where Junpei was coming from. Studying could be a right bore, and if you just didn't _get_ the subject, it was painful. Even he had subjects he didn't want to go near for fear of migraines or aneurysms. _Like higher math. Or quantum physics._ He winced. _Or Cantonese. That's a subject I don't ever wanna try again._

And, sheer difficulty aside, he was really not looking forward to the upcoming exams any more than the rest. Six days of sheer, utter boredom, and the fear that this time he really _was_ going to screw things up. Academics weren't too big of a challenge for him usually, but he knew it didn't take that big of a misstep to cause huge problems down the line.

"Seriously, man," Junpei said at length, recovering some of his verve and élan, "I know we gotta study, but… can we at least take one little break? Yuka-tan, tell me you're not tired of tried to figure out what the hell 'E equals M.C. Hammer' means, too."

Yukari, heretofore absorbed in a magazine on the opposite couch, glanced up and gave him a mildly disgusted look. "MC _squared,_ Junpei. Energy is the sum of the mass times the acceleration… or something like that." She sighed. "But, what the hell, I could use a break, too. Minato?"

All eyes turned to the dining area, leaving Minato mildly nonplussed. There were times, he admitted privately, that this whole "leader" business left him feeling a tad self-conscious. _But, it's something I accepted, and I can't disagree with the reasons…_

He took another, longer sip of his juice to buy a few moments to think. Then, "All right, guys. Too much studying can be like over-sharpening a sword, and we do need to keep up our efforts in Tartarus. I've got… a feeling that we should be able to get a little higher, after the battle the other night. _But,"_ he went on, gesturing warningly -if comically- with his orange juice, "just _one_ night. After this, no more till after exams, got it?"

"Yahoo! Y'know, Minato, sometimes you're really not a bad guy at all!" Junpei sat straight up, energy restored like he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. "Senpai?"

Mitsuru shook her head, unable to restrain a slight chuckle. "Okay, okay. Arisato is probably right, on all counts. We'll meet at Tartarus at midnight, as usual. Tomorrow, though, you'd all better get back to the books."

While Junpei turned to chatter excitedly at Yukari, Mitsuru turned her gaze back to Minato, frowning thoughtfully. _A "feeling" about Tartarus and that barrier? Hm… Arisato, I don't think you're telling us everything. And yet… how could you have a source we don't?_

* * *

Saturday, May 16th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

He hadn't told anyone, but Minato had actually taken _two_ nights off from studying, choosing to simply rest the night after the -admittedly productive- Tartarus visit. So, walking to school with but a single school day left before the exams, he was feeling refreshed and ready to take on the dreaded books yet again.

_Finally got caught up from the monorail, even,_ he thought, walking briskly toward the gates.

Minato wasn't quite sure when Mitsuru arrived and matched his stride; only his formidable self-control stopped him from jumping when she suddenly spoke from just a short distance to his left. "Good morning, Arisato. You're looking well."

_Heart rate, _slow _down!_ "Reasonably, Senpai," he replied, firmly forcing down the adrenaline rush. "I'm not sure I'll still feel that way in a couple of days, though."

She smiled briefly. "I'm not surprised. I should ask, though, how well-prepared you are. With everything that's been going on…"

He took a moment to think it through. "I think I'll be all right," he said. "I've been careful to pace myself, especially this past week."

Mitsuru nodded. "Good. You did well in Tartarus the other night, so I'm glad to hear your academics are holding up, as well. Assuming you're right, of course," she added with another small smile. "At any rate, it's an admittedly difficult balance, but one we have to maintain. Shadows won't always dominate our lives, so we need to be ready for normal life, too."

"Agreed, Senpai. It won't help to spend all our time training to fight, if the need for it stops and we're left with no other skills to get us through."

She nodded again, making a wordless sound of agreement, and for a few strides there was only silence. Not an uncomfortable one, either, just one of two people who spoke when something needed to be said, and understood the import of quiet. _Something else we have in common, I guess._

_**Aye. And an improvement, if my opinion be asked, over a certain chatterbox who seems to think a breath without words is a wasted one.**_ A thoughtful-feeling mental pause. _**Queen Mab would like this one, I think.**_

Minato twitched at the thought. If Valkyrie was implying what he thought she was… _I'm not sure I like the thought of having the Queen of Air and Darkness in my head. America's Disney doesn't know the _half_ of it about the old tales of the Fair Folk. _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ was only a shadow of the original stories._

His ruminations were interrupted by the sound of steady, purposeful strides. "Mitsuru, Minato! Good to see you guys."

Mitsuru turned to smile at their resident boxer. "Good morning, Akihiko. You're energetic this morning."

Akihiko smirked. "Any reason I shouldn't be? You already know the news." He turned his attention to Minato. "Got the results from my last checkup. The doctors are finally admitting that I'm almost completely healed, so after the exams, I'm back in action."

Minato raised his eyebrows. "You're in fighting trim again, Senpai?"

"_Almost,_" Mitsuru said firmly, before Akihiko could reply. "Yes, he'll be ready next week. But _only_ next week. Not a day sooner, Akihiko."

For once, the boxer didn't seem perturbed by Mitsuru's scolding. "Yeah, I know. Hey, we'll _all_ be too busy to go before then, anyway. I'm not stupid, Mitsuru." He smiled. "Besides, our leader here already decreed no more Tartarus 'till then, didn't he?"

Minato didn't know whether to look away self-consciously, or snark; this _was_ an upperclassman speaking, however little the distinction might make to the senpai in question. On the other hand…

Snark, as usual, won out. "Damn straight. And if you try to go anyway, we'll just _leave_ you there, Senpai."

Akihiko scoffed lightly. "Yeah, sure." Then glanced quickly at Mitsuru, and the look on her face that suggested she'd back up every word of it. "…Yeah, sure. Anyway, Minato, can we talk after school? Something I need to run by you, if you're free."

Minato closed his eyes, attention turning inward as they neared the school gates. _No commitments that I can remember off the top of my head. You guys got anything I'm forgetting?_

_**Not that I can recall, Master. Though your social events calendar **_**does**_** seem to fill easily these days, doesn't it?**_

_**Nay. Everyone we know is too busy with their studies. Fortunately.**_ A mental sniff. _**Although in one case, that might actually be **_**more**_** disturbing.**_

_**Hee-hooo!**_

_Well, that last was… helpful._

Rolling his eyes, Minato came back to his surroundings. "Not a problem, Senpai. Where and when?"

Akihiko thought for a moment. "Meet me at Hagakure after school. Shouldn't take long."

"Gotcha."

Minato split off then, heading to the main doors, leaving Mitsuru to pause and lift an eyebrow. "Something I need to know about, Akihiko?"

He shrugged. "Nothing special. I'm just going to ask him to look into things a little. If anyone can dig up anything we might miss, it'd be him, don't you think? And he can probably do it without anyone noticing he's looking."

"…You have a point there," she admitted. "Let me know if he turns anything up."

"Of course."

* * *

After School

* * *

"So what's up, Senpai?"

It didn't particularly surprise Minato that Akihiko would choose Hagakure for their meeting. By now, it seemed to him that it was _the_ go-to place for just about every guy he knew, from the dorm gang to about half his classmates.

He was just glad that there was no sign of Kenji today. Not a good time to be dealing with his particular fetishes. _Especially not when he seems to be under the impression that he's getting somewhere with them. Ugh._

"Well," Akihiko answered, twisting his chopsticks into his ramen, "it's about what I had Junpei doing the other day. Remember how I had him get me the class roster for 2-E?"

Minato nodded, thinking back. Although in the end he'd found it more memorable for the upperclassman in the trench coat and the strange woman he'd bumped into again just recently, he did recall that it was the class roster that had brought them there in the first place. It had gotten lost in the shuffle of other topics, though, so he never had heard what it was for.

"Yeah, I remember," he said aloud. "Same thing you were asking your friend about?"

For some reason, Akihiko looked briefly uncomfortable. "Kinda, yeah… Almost. Well, I wanted the roster because I was looking into a particular student. You know Fuuka Yamagishi, by any chance?"

The swordsman closed his eyes. "Yamagishi… Kinda short, blue-gray hair, wears some kind of shawl with her uniform? Can't say I've spoken to her, but I've seen her around… Occasionally. Pretty distinctive."

A nod. "That's the one. Like you said, she only seems to be around occasionally, and I'm trying to find out a little more about her." Akihiko paused to take a bite of his ramen, and work his arm around a little. "She was on the same floor of the hospital as me," he said when he'd swallowed, "which is how I found out about her."

"Ah." Minato raised an eyebrow. "And… is there a particular reason you're investigating her?"

The boxer smirked. "Well, I _could_ tell you… but wouldn't you have more fun finding the reason yourself? I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard for ya."

_**Your reputation precedes you, Master.**_

A distinct mental sniff. _**Not a difficult deduction for him, 'tis it? After what the Master achieved before he was e'er asked into SEES. Nay, 'tis obvious, really.**_

_Pipe down, both of you._

"Point taken, Senpai." Minato acknowledged the point with a lift of his own chopsticks. "Okay, consider me investigating _you,_ too, on this one. In the meantime, I assume you're asking me to look into her myself. So, what exactly are you trying to find out?"

Akihiko took another bite, accompanied by a shrug. "I'm not entirely sure, I have to admit. But for starters? Why she doesn't seem to be in school very much. The rumors I've managed to pick up all say it's illness, and I _did_ see her in the hospital, but… She looked pretty healthy to me. If there's more to it, I'd like to know."

Minato thought about it for a moment, but really, there was no question about his answer. "Okay, Senpai. I can't say I expect to dig up any deep, dark secrets on this one, but it sounds interesting. Although," he warned, "I don't expect to be able to do much searching until after exams. Unless this is _really_ critical, anyway."

"That's fine. Could be important in the long run, but I don't think there's any particular rush." Akihiko nodded, satisfied. "Let me know what you find out, when you can find it, Detective."

He delivered the last with a sardonic smirk, but was puzzled when Minato burst out laughing.

* * *

Exams. The bane of any student's existence, even Minato Arisato. The battles that followed his conversation with Akihiko would be told of in legends, the stuff of stories told to keep children from wandering too far in the night. Future generations would be scarred for life by the mere specter of the tales; the survivors were gripped by PTSD for years afterward.

Minato's mind was tormented by phantoms of Albert Einstein, of Samurai, and of man-eating soaps. One night, in the middle of the week of horror, he was visited by a nightmare of a numeral Seven on a cannibalistic spree of consumption, thanks to a truly horrific pun of how it "ate" Nine. Only the interventions of his revolted Personas saved his night from total destruction in a sea of terror.

Yet, at the last, all things come to an end, good and horrible alike. Even the Iron Maiden-like affliction of exams went away eventually, conquered by the mighty pen; Minato even felt as if he had conquered the terrible beast. Only time would tell, and endless pair of days away.

Time, as they say, went on.

* * *

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009, Evening

* * *

"_Damn,_ but I'm glad that's over!" Junpei proclaimed, throwing open the dorm's front door with as much energy as he could muster. Which, admittedly, wasn't much; Minato thought he looked more exhausted than after the monorail battle that had nearly killed them.

"Can't argue with you there," Yukari agreed with a sigh, following him in. "Ugh, I forgot how much that takes out of me. I feel like I've been fighting Shadows all week." She plodded over to one of the lounge couches. "Actually, I wish I felt that _good."_

"Could be worse," Minato chimed in wearily, and made his way toward the dining area and an energy drink. "That's not the most grueling exam I've ever been through."

Junpei flung himself into a chair and looked suspiciously at the swordsman. "Yeah? I mean, I know these weren't really any worse than usual, but man, what kind of school did _you_ go to?"

"One where a classmate tried to get out of exams by summoning an alien invasion." Minato shook his head in wry recollection. "At least, I think that was the idea. Getting out of exams, I mean. She _said_ she was trying to get the attention of aliens. And she was only the tip of the iceberg."

_Although,_ he had to admit privately, _it was fun to watch a lot of that stuff from the sidelines. In Nishinomiya it was that other guy who got all the attention._ Oddly, Minato couldn't remember the other student's name, although if he remembered right he'd been stuck with a nickname appropriately close to the ancient Greek word for "cynic".

Good times, those. He distinctly remembered the computer club having some kind of epic feud with the group run by the cynic's very _strange_ lady friend, and then there was the mystery of the class rep's abrupt departure. He was, admittedly, confused by the fact that his memories seemed to have two different versions for one December, but that was probably nothing.

"Sounds like Gekkokan's almost boring by comparison, Minato," Akihiko commented, coming down the stairs. "Unless the Yamagishi mystery is shaping up well?"

Yukari looked between the two in confusion. "Yamagishi…? Oh, yeah, that girl in 2-E. Um… what about her?"

The boxer smirked, joining them in the lounge. "I believe Minato can probably answer that much by now, right?"

Minato extracted a can from the fridge, popped it open, and returned to the lounge himself. "Going out on a limb here," he drawled, "but in my experience there's only been one reason you and Mitsuru-senpai have 'investigated' someone. She's got potential, doesn't she?"

"Exactly." Akihiko's nod was an approving one. "Although I suppose that was an easy question, at that."

Junpei summoned the energy to sit with a degree or two of straight. "Seriously? You've found another Persona user? _And_ she's a girl?"

"Potential one, yes. That's why I had you bring me the class roster a couple weeks back." Akihiko leaned back into his chair. "Like I told Minato the other day, she was in the hospital at the same time I was, and it so happens that hospital very discretely checks all patients in a certain age group for 'potential'. She tripped the filters."

The Man in the Hat grinned. "Seriously? Far out! We could use another girl around here!"

Yukari shot him a disgusted look. "Junpei, get a life. Although," she admitted, "I can't say I disagree. Having another girl from my year wouldn't be bad… But how likely is she to join?"

Akihiko looked to Minato, the latter now leaning against the wall by the TV. "That's a good question, and I have to confess that I have some doubts of my own, given what little we do know about here. Minato, I know you've been busy, but have you managed to find out anything?"

"Not a lot," the swordsman conceded, nursing his energy drink. "I was mostly trying not to die of paper cuts this week. But you're right about one thing: she's got a _lot_ of absences, which as far as I can tell are almost always attributed to illness."

Junpei's face fell. "Aw, man… You're sayin' she's too weak to handle it?"

Minato, surprisingly, didn't answer right away, instead staring down at his drink. _**You've a suspicion, Master,**_ Valkyrie commented. _**And your instincts be good ones. I mislike much of what's been said, mine self.**_

_**Far be it from me to agree with the Norse Lady, but yeah. Huh. Maybe we should get close to her and have Apsaras take a sniff?**_

_**Hee-hooo!**_

"…I'm not so sure," he said at last. "Senpai, you said she didn't look that bad off when you saw her, right?"

"Yeah," Akihiko confirmed. "Although I didn't get that close a look at her. I'm not as good as you are at 'scanning' someone without them noticing I'm looking. Got a hunch, Detective?"

"A smidgen of one. Or the beginnings of one, anyway. Like I said, I didn't have time to really check much, but I heard a bit of gossip, and I managed to sneak into the Faculty Office and…" Minato trailed off at the look on the senior's face. "Senpai…?"

"Do I _want_ to know what you were doing in there?" Akihiko twitched. "Let me rephrase: is this something we _really_ don't want Mitsuru finding out about?"

"Huh? …Oh!" Minato quickly shook his head. "No, no, nothing to do with exams, Senpai. Hell, I don't actually know where they _keep_ that stuff. No, I was looking for attendance records. Found them, too. And _all_ of Yamagishi's absences are attributed by Ekoda."

"Do I even want to know why you _do_ know where those are kept? Or how you got into the office to begin with?" Akihiko held up a hand. "Never mind, I don't think I do, at that. Anyway. Ekoda's her homeroom teacher, so I don't really see how that matters. Wouldn't he be the one to deal with that sort of thing anyway?"

"True, but anything to do with him trips my circuits. Enough to get me thinking." Minato slowly shook his head. "Maybe it's nothing, maybe I'm completely off track. But I think there's usually a record of some kind if someone is out _this_ often for 'illness', a doctor's note or something at the least."

Yukari bit her lip. "Y'know, Senpai, I think he might be onto something there."

Akihiko nodded thoughtfully. "Could be, at that. Can't say I know enough about it. And no, Detective, I _don't_ want to know why you do. Keep on it, though, this could be important."

"Naturally." The blue-haired swordsman smiled faintly. "It's a mystery, Senpai. I _like_ mysteries."

"I've noticed." Akihiko stood up then, and took a moment to stretch. "At any rate, whether Yamagishi is suitable or not, you'll have another Persona user on hand for your next Tartarus run."

Junpei grinned. "You're back in action, Senpai?"

"Congratulations!" Yukari offered.

"Yeah, I'm back." Akihiko smirked. "Don't be slacking off, you three, or I'll leave you in the dust. It's about time I got back in the ring."

_Four of us now,_ Minato thought, with an approving mental nod. _Sounds just about ideal for a squad like ours. Enough to cover all angles, not so many that we get in each other's way while we're fighting. I can work with that._

_**Aye. Could stand one or two for a reserve, in case of emergency or simple illness, but 'tis a start, Master. I look forward to seeing this warrior in action.**_

"Can't wait to see how you fight, Senpai," Junpei said, unknowingly echoing Valkyrie's words. "And to show you what _we_ can really do!"

"You'll get your chance, Junpei." Akihiko nodded to Minato. "So, any chance of a Tartarus run soon, Minato?"

The other raised his eyebrows. "You're senior to me, Senpai."

"Yeah, but… I'm not really the leader type. I've already discussed it with Mitsuru and she's fine with it: I'd like you to continue as field leader, especially since you've worked with the others and I haven't." Akihiko lifted an eyebrow in return. "Think you can handle that?"

A month before, Minato wouldn't have been sure, though he would've hidden it well. Now, with several Tartarus excursions and an insane monorail incident under his belt, he had a feel for his own limits. "Not a problem, Senpai. I'll try not to be too presumptuous." He thought for a moment. "That said… Give me two days to recover from exams, and we should be good to go. Mitsuru-senpai thinks we're approaching another floor guardian, and I'd like to knock its lights out soon."

"Sounds like a plan."

Neither fighter noticed Junpei's resentful look, though Yukari took thoughtful note of it.

* * *

Monday, May 25th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"I have to wonder what kind of mood Junpei's going to be in after today," Yukari commented, matching her friend and leader's pace toward Gekkokan. "Something's been eating him off and on ever since the monorail as it is."

Minato nodded ruefully. "I've noticed. Sooner or later, I need to get to the bottom of _that, _too, I suppose… And today the exam results should be posted. For everyone to see."

"Yeah. I don't know about you, but it didn't look to me like Junpei felt too confident about his results." She sighed, shaking her head. "Not that I'm surprised. Last year he didn't do too great either, and we weren't balancing school with Shadows back then."

The swordsman nodded in passing to Kenji -whom he _devoutly_ hoped wasn't yet ready to ask for more help- and made a small noise of agreement. "Can't say I'm surprised. One of these days, I'm gonna splurge and hire that guy a tutor or something. As it is, last night he looked like he was expecting a planet to fall on him. Heard him muttering in his room last night, too."

Yukari shot him an amused look. "What, were you eavesdropping?"

"No, he was muttering _very loud._ I had to put my headphones on to get some sleep. Not sure if Junpei ever got any himself." A small sigh. "And, to top things off, there's the matter of Yamagishi."

_**For whom we shall be on the lookout, Master. Apsaras is watching for any trace of her presence today; if she appears, we can begin finding answers.**_

_**And if she's cute. Can't forget-**_

_**Shut up, Fae harlot, or we shall have to find out if Personas can suffer migraines!**_

Yukari looked askance at Minato when he slapped the side of his own head, but let it pass when he gestured for her to continue. "I was thinking about that, too," she said in response to his last comment. "Junpei seemed so excited about the idea of another girl joining us. Honestly… I mean, I wouldn't mind having one more myself, but not like _that."_

"Agreed." Minato shook his head. "If I know him, he'd use 'I'm a guy' as an excuse. I _hate_ that line of reasoning. Tch… Well, exam results should distract him for a little bit." He paused. "Although maybe not in a good way. Not to brag, but I think I did… pretty good this time. Get the impression that's not gonna go over very well if he did as badly as he seemed to expect."

"…No, probably not," she agreed, a frown of annoyance crossing her face. "Well, Akihiko-senpai is back on the team now, so maybe he can help settle Junpei down."

"Always hope."

* * *

Afternoon

* * *

_Well, at least she's not talking about sweets this time._

Toriumi was, as ever -aside from her overactive sweet tooth- being her no-nonsense self from the moment she entered the classroom, and Minato had to admit to being grateful for it this time. He had, to put it mildly, nothing to be ashamed of about his exam results; but placing _top_ of the class wasn't quite what'd expected, and was none too sure it was a good thing.

_On the one hand, I've got even more attention than usual; positive as it may be, I don't really care to be the topic of the day. And on the other, I've got Junpei looking like the world ended and I caused it. The only good thing is that, knowing him, he'll eventually shrug it off and go back to saying test results don't really matter. In the meantime…_

"All right, settle down, everyone," Toriumi said sternly. "You can talk about your exam results after school. And honestly, some of you really _should_ be doing some talking, especially reviewing the material. Let's go over the test, shall we?" She tapped a paper she'd laid on the podium. "This section in particular, of the kanji dictation. This had some very easy kanji; I'm honestly embarrassed that some of you managed to get it wrong."

Minato snuck a glance at Junpei, and saw that the Man in the Hat actually brightened at that, smiling with a trace of smugness. _Huh. Guess he wasn't one of them. Good for you, Junpei; maybe there's hope for you yet._

That Kazushi, upon close examination, was looking rebellious didn't especially surprise him. He knew the kendo star was counting more on a sports scholarship than high academic results. Admittedly, he did at least seem to have a pretty good chance of pulling it off.

Toriumi was shaking her head now. "That's bad enough, but this essay section, about bullying in schools? A pure gimme. If you'd put down _anything,_ you'd have gotten credit. You could've complained about the bullying here at Gekkokan, if nothing else." She glared abruptly. "I'm kidding about that part. There's no bullying in this school, none whatsoever, and I'm not even getting into the topic. Moving on…"

Mentally shaking his head, Minato allowed himself an equally internal sigh. _I admit I haven't personally seen any myself, Sensei, but it is pure wishful thinking to say there isn't any bullying at all. If there's a school in this world that has no bullying, it must be populated entirely by monks with oaths of silence and celibacy._

He glanced back at Kenji. _…Not much chance of _that_ here._

* * *

After School

* * *

"Have a good day, Minato-chan! And thanks for looking into the tree for us; it's a huge load off our minds to know that a nice young man like yourself is on our side."

Minato nodded pleasantly to Bunkichi, spared Mitsuko a smile, and stepped out of Bookworms with his new purchases under his arm. He'd come to Iwatodai with only a minimum of personal effects, and was still picking up spares of various things when he could. The discovery of a used bookstore right in the middle of one of his usual haunts had been quite the boon. That the proprietors were quite pleasant, if a bit odd, was a bonus.

_And these, I'm keeping even after I leave town,_ he mused. _I've got all of Tolkien's stuff back home, but these are an older edition of the translations than I'd seen before._

"Rope," Minato muttered to himself as he exited back to the street, having opened one of the books to a random page. "Y'know, Samwise has a point on that one. Like duct tape. Never seem to have rope when you need it…"

"What, are you planning on tying someone up, Minato?" A gentle laugh. "I didn't think you needed that much of a handicap to take on Kaz these days."

He quickly looked up, tucking the book back into his bag. "Just talking to myself, Yuko," he said, nodding to the team manager with a small smile. "You know me, I've always got something going on these days."

"I've noticed," Yuko Nishiwaki said dryly, matching his stride back toward Iwatodai Station. "Half the time I wonder how you manage to keep up with Kaz so well, the other half I think you're burning off all your stress on him."

"A little," Minato admitted with a chuckle. "Not like he doesn't bring it on himself, though. I thought I was dedicated; he's like a machine, sometimes… Anyway, sorry for the detour. The special order just came in, and…"

"Don't worry about it." She waved it off. "I'm the one who dragged you out to do some shopping; can't complain if you've got a little of your own."

Minato still wasn't sure how, exactly, he'd gotten the Kendo Team manager's attention. About the only thing he could think of was that he was the only member of the team who actually seemed to have much of a life outside it. Certainly he couldn't see _Kazushi_ being willing to tag along for a shopping trip.

_I, on the other hand, am willing to put up with a fair bit for some decent company. I've done worse things than play pack mule._

He still wasn't used to being popular. Didn't quite get why he was, either. But if he was going to be, Minato figured, he'd better get the hang of it quick.

"Right, then," he said aloud. "You wanted to check out that new sports shop in Paulownia Mall, right?"

"Yep," Yuko confirmed. "I've heard they might be carrying those new carbon shinai, and I wanted to look into it. Probably too expensive for the team, and I'm not sure they're tournament-legal, but I figure some of the guys might be interested for personal use…"

* * *

Thursday, May 28th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Damn, but I'm glad _that's_ behind us! Worst week and a half I've had all year!"

Minato nodded absently, inwardly glad that his headphones had some slight noise-canceling effect. He suspected the full blast of Junpei's exasperation would've risked giving him tinnitus. As it was, several other students glanced their way, seemed to notice it was Junpei, and went back to their own business.

"So, Minato, not that I really need to ask, but… You okay with how you did on exams?"

He blinked, then understood. _He didn't actually look,_ he realized. _Just assumed… Can't blame him, I guess. Probably bad enough seeing his own, without mine rubbing his nose in things._

"I think I'm satisfied," he said with diplomatic understatement.

Junpei sighed dramatically. "Seriously…? Nah, I'm not actually surprised. I mean, you do study all the time and all… Me? I'm a laughingstock. All the girls saw it, too, and I even heard a couple of 'em say, 'Junpei sure has a one-track mind!' To think I finally get some attention, and it's like that…"

He looked so hangdog Minato was actually impressed. He'd thought expressions like that were only possible in anime.

It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, though, as Junpei switched gears without a mental clutch. "But I won't let it get me down! Forget exams, we might just have a new girl joining the team. Now _that's_ what really matters right now! Right, Minato?"

Minato smiled faintly, shaking his head. "Whoa there, Junpei, calm down a little."

"Calm down?! How can I calm down?!" Junpei flashed one of his standard megawatt grins. "We could be getting another girl around the dorm, man! Tell me that doesn't excite you!"

"I won't complain," the blue-haired student admitted. "But I'm not about to hit on her the first second she steps through the door, if that's what you mean."

"Tch." Junpei rolled his eyes, barely subdued. "You gotta live a little, Minato," he insisted; though he was careful not to push _too_ hard, remembering the rant Minato had launched into the last time he'd gotten too enthusiastic about the subject. "For a guy who jumps on the outside of moving trains, you're such a square sometimes."

_He is _never_ going to let me live that down is he… Wait, _what?

Minato stopped in his tracks, staring at his classmate in sheer disbelief. "Did you actually _say_ that?"

* * *

Afternoon

* * *

It was possibly the first time Minato had seen the man outside the nurse's office, and being as he'd heard the stories about his "treatments", not often there. It was hard to mistake the bizarre combination of shorts, Hawaiian shirt, sandals, and lab coat, however; which left only the question of what he was doing apparently getting ready to teach a class.

"I'm Edogawa," the nurse(?) said by why of introduction. "My job is to teach you integrative learning. Eeeheehee…"

_Ask question, get answer… I… think…? And that laugh… does not sound promising._

"In this class, I'll ease all your worries."

_Not with _that_ for a bedside manner, you won't._

"It's psychotherapy through magic!"

_Uh… Say what?_

Edogawa cleared his throat, his glasses shining ominously without any apparent source of lighting. "All right, everyone, be very, very quiet… No talking. Silence! Were you surprised to hear me bring up magic?"

_Yes, but I probably shouldn't have been. I _knew_ this school had to have at least one complete whack-job._

"It's a recent proposal," he explained, "so it's not well-known yet. Here it is: believe, and you shall be saved."

_Um. Think that goes back about two thousand years, actually. Or more. Unless you count here in Japan, in which case it only goes back to around the Sengoku Era. I think._

"Study hard, and I can beat your weak minds into shape!" Edogawa announced, with no apparent connection to his previous sentence. "Eeeheehee… Now then! Let's get on with our first lecture, on the basics of magic. Who can use magic, and who cannot? That'll be our starting point. Some of you might think that using magic allows you to do absolutely anything: hurting your enemies, pulling pranks on people… If that's what you think, then you'll never learn magic."

_Good heavens. I think he's actually being serious! _Minato leaned forward in his chair, genuinely curious. _Where did they dig this guy up, and who was crazy enough to actually let him _teach_ this stuff?_

"It's true of both eastern and western sorcery," the nurse continued. "Those with wicked hearts will either be powerless, or driven into complete ruin. And there's one more thing that cannot be forgotten when learning magic, and that is… a 'master'. You should aspire to become as good as your predecessors, especially if you're studying difficult magic; if you don't have a master, you will never even get that far. The black arts cannot be learned by solo study."

…_Somehow, I think maybe I should be relieved by that. I _don't_ want some of my classmates learning to turn people into newts, or worse yet brewing love potions._ Minato shuddered. _Especially not brewing love potions._

"When you begin your training, you will have to live in two worlds at once: the real world, and the dark realm. If you can't distinguish between the two, you're headed for certain disaster. And that's why you need a master! Someone to keep you on that thin thread, without toppling into the abyss! With that in mind, I'll move on to meditation, a standard practice in magical training. I've got some prints for you…"

…_Wow. Some of that sounded just like exactly the life I'm living now. Maybe this refugee from an anime actually has some idea of what he's talking about? …Now _that's_ a scary thought._

"…Now, then," Edogawa said at length, "we're just about out of time. If this subject has caught your attention, try meditating before going to bed. Slowly recall the events of the day… If you do it well, it's like going back in time. If you can do it flawlessly, you just might make a good magician! Eeeheehee… Well, that's all for today."

_That may be the most interesting lecture I've heard in weeks. I just really, really hope it's either not real, or none of my classmates have the willpower to actually try it out. Shadows are enough of a threat for right now, thank you very much._

Oh, well. At least Kenji seemed to have daydreamed through it; the thought of _him_ employing magic was enough to scare years off Minato's life.

* * *

Evening

* * *

Minato still largely had Edogawa on the brain when he walked in that evening, having stopped for ramen in the hopes of driving nightmare scenarios out of his brain with the help of extreme spice. It had even worked, slightly.

Not as well as Mitsuru-senpai's words of greeting, though.

"Welcome back," she said from one of the lounge chairs. "Have you heard the news, Arisato?"

He could guess what she was talking about. "Afraid so," he said with a sigh. "Apathy Syndrome seems to be on the rise again; that's what you're talking about, right?"

Mitsuru nodded soberly. "It would appear that the decline was only temporary. Reports have been rising again since around when exams started, so I wasn't sure if you'd heard."

Over in the dining area, Yukari looked up in alarm. "Does that mean… no matter how many Shadows we defeat, they're just going to keep coming?" She shivered visibly. "If that's the case, is there even any point to trying?"

Minato crossed over to join her at the table. "You can't think like that," he said firmly. "We're only just beginning to understand Shadows at all; it's too early to think there's really no end to them. And even if there were, fighting them would _still_ be worthwhile. Even if all you can do is hold the dark at bay, that's still better than letting it extinguish all the light."

"…That's kinda corny," she told him a moment's thought. "But I guess you're right." She shivered again. "It's kinda creepy, though, when you think about it. If we didn't have our Personas, the city would be crawling with zombies."

"Like a Romero movie," Minato agreed. "But it's not, and we won't let it." His eyes brightened, remembering the monorail. "No. We've only just begun."

* * *

Friday, May 29th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Gossip seems, at times, to be the stuff of high school life. Heretofore, Minato had only seldom found it to be terribly relevant, if occasionally amusing. Any news they had, the "Detective" of SEES had usually heard it already. It was naught but a way to distract himself on the well-worn walk to Gekkokan.

"Did you hear? A couple of ten-grade girls were bullying another student."

He almost paused at that, mental antennae quivering.

"Seriously? I'd heard Ms. Toriumi was on the warpath about people spreading rumors about it; you mean some are actually true?"

"Yeah! I didn't hear all the details, but there's no doubt about this one. A younger guy in my club was talking about it; he apparently saw it firsthand."

"Wow. I didn't think things like that actually happened at our school! Who is the poor kid?"

"Don't know, but I feel sorry for them. It's apparently really getting to be a problem; from what Koji-kun said, it wasn't the first time." A sigh. "I thought Gekkokan was so peaceful, but I guess it's too much to hope for to not have _any_ bullying…"

_Well, damn. I hadn't heard that, either._ One of the disadvantages to being "popular", Minato supposed. He wasn't usually around people who dealt with these kinds of problems on a regular basis. _Hm… Maybe Hidetoshi might know something. Probably nothing I can _do_ about it, but I should still look into it._

_**Growing into Akihiko-senpai's nickname, Master?**_

_**And why should he not? Aye, what better role for our Master to play, than that which has occupied his family for so many years? That most honorable name…**_

_Which, as both of you well know, _Naoto_ is more likely to inherit than I am._ Minato smiled slowly, a spring coming into his step. _But Valkyrie's right: why not? It's in the blood. I could just handle the… strange cases._

_**Well, you've got a coat; that makes a good substitute for a cape. But ya still need a nice hat, Master. Don't all detectives have them?**_

He snorted to himself, passing through the school gates. He wasn't sure at which aspect of the comment, though: the idea of the hat, or Pixie's increasingly Junpei-like speech patterns.

_**Hey! I resent that!**_

…_**Thus proving his point, Fae twit.**_

* * *

After School

* * *

_Phew… I really have to admit, I don't know how Minato keeps it up. I don't do half of what he does, and I'm tired out just from Archery Practice._

Walking down the open air corridor connecting the gym to the main building of the school, Yukari stretched, easing muscles tight from sending a few dozen arrows downrange. Her Persona helped some, a fact she was careful to downplay around the rest of her team, but it was still quite the workout.

_Not like I'm slacking off, though. Even with Tartarus keeping me up late, I've actually gotten higher scores, lately._ She smiled to herself. _Although that might actually help. Shadows trying to kill me are much harder targets than bales of hay. No wonder Minato is catching up to Kazushi so fast in Kendo Team._

Mocking laughter wiped the smile right off her face, though she could tell it wasn't actually directed at her. "Can you imagine the look on her face?! I took out my cell phone, and just _pretended _to take a picture, and…" The cackling voice paused, as though for dramatic effect.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, Natsuki! What was it like?"

"She totally broke down crying, of course!" A cruel giggle. "I mean, you'd think it was the end of the world or something!"

Yukari glanced over to see a brunette she vaguely recognized chatting with another girl, near the old persimmon tree. _Great. What's_ this_ all about?_

"Oh, that's _hilarious!_ Nice one, Natsuki!"

"I know! It was about the funniest thing I've see in her life!"

The SEES brunette resumed her interrupted stride, shaking her head in disgust. "Ugh… bullying, huh? I really don't understand what some people think is 'fun'." Her voice was pitched low, but not quite so low the two gossiping bullies couldn't have heard it if they'd been paying attention.

Apparently they weren't, though, merely going into another round of cackles over the brunette's cruelty. They didn't even seem to care about the possibility of someone overhearing. Considering Toriumi's vehement denial that there even _was_ bullying at Gekkokan, Yukari had to admit their blasé aplomb was probably justified.

"Hey," one of them said suddenly, glancing around in puzzlement. "Did you just hear something?"

"Huh? Like what?"

"A voice… but I can't tell where it's coming from. Huh…"

A long pause, which prompted Yukari to look back. The first girl -Natsuki?- was looking at the second with some concern; perhaps justified, considering that she was staring off into space. "Hey, Maki? Maki? Hey, you're creeping me out!"

Maki twitched, seeming to come back to herself. "Huh? Oh… It's nothing, sorry. Um… what were we talking about?"

_Maybe I should tell Minato about this,_ Yukari thought idly, turning away again and hitching her bag of archery gear higher on one shoulder. _If anybody could think of an "unofficial" solution, it's probably him. If he's not too busy, anyway. Heck, might even tie into his investigation of Yamagishi._

Yukari shook her head. She _still_ didn't understand how Minato managed to get so much done, and _still_ look like an action hero when the fat was really in the fire. Understand it or not, though, she wasn't about to complain.

* * *

Saturday, May 30th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Based on what Yukari had told him, Minato was starting to have dark suspicions, so he kept his ear even closer to the ground than usual this morning, last walk to school of the month of May. Now, at least, schoolgirl gossip might truly be relevant.

"Hey, did you hear the latest?"

"Oh, you mean about the eleventh-grader? The one who…"

"Yeah, that one. They said she was found lying on the ground this morning, right out in the open! Brr… I hope she's just a runaway, but, with everything else… I get the weird feeling that this is the start of something big."

"Bleh… Yeah, you might be right. Reporters and cameras and stuff. Ugh, I hope it doesn't come to that. I've got enough to deal with at school as it is, y'know?"

_Lying on the ground?_ Minato frowned thoughtfully. _That's… interesting. I wish they'd given more details; I'd better ask around. Doesn't _sound_ like anything to do with the Yamagishi Case, but it sure as hell doesn't sound _normal._ Might just be what they said, I guess, but my Spider Sense is tingling on this one._

_**To the Batmobile, Master?**_

_**Fool! Wrong comic!**_ A beat. _**And wrong company! …And why are we even **_**having**_** this debate?!**_

* * *

Morning

* * *

Class, at least, had been normal enough so far, aside from the bizarre bickering in the back of Minato's mind between two mythological entities about the merits of various media. He hadn't paid much attention, though he'd noticed they _had_ come to a consensus on manga being overall superior to Western comics. He'd zoned out when they started debating the finer points of shounen manga.

_If I ever tell the rest of the team about this, they'll think I've lost my mind. As it is, _I_ think I'm losing my mind._

"Did you hear about the girl from 2-E?"

"Yeah. Nobody's got a clue about what really happened, though. I mean, was she attacked, was it drugs, what?"

"I know, it's completely crazy. And all we've got to work with is rumors…"

_Well, _that's_ interesting,_ Minato thought, grateful for the distraction. _Class 2-E… Yamagishi's class. That's quite the coincidence. Worse, Gekkokan is such a nest of strangeness that I can't even tell if it's connected to her at all; for all I know, it might _be_ a coincidence, and be part of yet a _different_ mystery._

"Huh. So everybody in our class is talking about it, too, huh?" Junpei turned to sit backwards in his chair, and nodded at the gossiping students in the back. "Heard a buncha people talking about it on the way to school this morning, too. Can't believe it… You've probably heard the details by now yourself, right?"

"Some of them," Minato confirmed quietly. "Not all, though. What've you got?"

Junpei grinned, pleased to be the one to deliver fresh news for once. "Well, it so happens that a girl from 2-E was reported missing last night. And you know where they found her this morning? Passed out cold, _right in front of the school gate!_ And she's _still_ unconscious, apparently."

The blue-haired swordsman frowned pensively. "I'd heard about the missing student, and just now about her being from 2-E. First I've heard that she hasn't even woken up yet. …Crud, that sounds a little too much like…"

He trailed off into silent contemplation, just as Yukari came over. "Hey, guys," she called. "You've heard the latest, too, huh?"

Junpei turned his megawatt-grin on her. "Yo, Yuka-tan! Yeah, we were just talking about it." He sighed theatrically. "It's a strange case, I gotta admit that. Be a tough nut to crack enough for…" He paused dramatically. "Junpei Iori, Ace Detective!"

The archer was… not entirely impressed. "'Ace Detective'?" she repeated, rolling her eyes. "I thought that was Minato's job. Don't you mean, Ace _Defective,_ Stupei?"

He assayed a glare, which bounced off her defenses without leaving a scratch. "Hey, I resent that! At least cut it out with the stupid nickname…" Junpei shook his head. "Whatever. Anyway, where've you been, Yuka-tan?"

"Talking to one of the teachers, actually." Yukari turned to Minato. "Got a bit more info for ya, Minato. That girl? Her name's Maki Yuzuhira. Now, I haven't seen a picture or anything, but if that's the 'Maki' I'm thinking of, I saw her on my way back from practice just yesterday. She seemed just fine then."

"Hm…" Frowning again, Minato reached into his book bag and pulled out a small notepad, onto which he jotted down a quick note. "That's… interesting. Maki Yuzuhira, Class 2-E; Fuuka Yamagishi's class, no less. Seemed fine yesterday, turned up missing last night, found this morning _here_ of all places, looking like one of the Lost." He looked up. "Anything I'm missing?"

Yukari thought back. "Actually… I don't know if this means anything, but she was talking to another student, I think the name was Natsuki, about bullying. 'Natsuki' was apparently giving some other girl a rough time."

"Probably Natsuki Moriyama," he mused, jotting down another note. "I remember the name from the 2-E class register," he explained, noticing Junpei's look of surprise. "And… Bullying? Crud."

Yukari raised her eyebrows. "You're looking into bullying, too? I was actually thinking of asking you about that, but I thought you might be too busy."

"A hunch," Minato replied, leaning back in his chair. "When a couple of cases start to intersect, a detective gets… curious. And bullying is a disturbing addition to any plot." He grimaced. "I don't like this. I _really_ don't like this."

The look Junpei turned on him was unusually serious. "You think there's something bad going on, Minato?"

The swordsman closed his eyes. "I'd rather not say anything till I've got a better handle on things, Junpei. But yeah, it's starting to make a pattern, and not a good one. Yuzuhira ending up as one of the Lost is probably a coincidence, but the rest… Crud. Guys, I'm gonna keep on this. _Please_ let me know if either of you hear anything else. I don't care if it seems relevant or not, if it's about anybody to do with 2-E and at all out the ordinary…"

His teammates nodded, for once in total agreement.

* * *

Monday, June 1st, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_Feh. No useful gossip today, I guess… Shouldn't be surprised. I think this case is a bit past the point where most normal students would hear anything relevant._

Minato shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably, wishing idly for his usual jacket. As a rule, he vastly preferred long sleeves, and the first month or so after transitioning to the jacketless summer uniforms was also rough on him. _Shorter sleeves, and fewer pockets. I _hate_ not having extra pockets._

"Good morning, Arisato," Mitsuru called, coming up to match his stride in a way that seemed to match speed with such grace that one didn't even notice she was walking faster than usual. "I understand Akihiko's been having you investigating Yamagishi?"

He nodded, slowing to let her catch up. "Although it seems to be getting a little more complicated than that, yeah. There's something strange going on with 2-E in general, or at least that's how it's starting to feel."

"…I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not." The red-haired senior sighed. "Admittedly, I haven't been keeping abreast of your findings, but still… There's something in the air that feels strange. Have you noticed it?"

Minato grimaced. "I hoped I was imagining it, Senpai. Might just be me, but it felt kind of like this last month, just before…"

"My thoughts exactly." Mitsuru nodded gravely. "Be on your guard, Arisato. I don't like putting pressure on you, but honestly, I think we're going to be counting on your strength soon." She looked at him with some concern. "Are you getting enough rest? You've been leading the team into Tartarus pretty often lately."

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "I just think there's going to be another barrier soon, and I want to get there as quick as we can. Then I'll take a few days off."

"If you're certain, I'll leave it up to you." She nodded again, more decisively. "Again, keep your eyes open, Arisato. I'll see you later."

* * *

Evening

* * *

"So, Yuka-tan, you been to the student message boards lately?"

"A little, looking into some stuff for Minato. Why?"

Minato entered the lounge to find the rest of the team already gathered around the dining table. "Did I miss something?" he asked, walking over to join them.

Junpei turned a mischievous grin on him. "Nope, you're just in time, Minato! I was just about to tell Yuka-tan here an interesting story. That story about the Yuzuhira girl being found by the school gate? Turns out a story is going around about how a vengeful ghost was responsible for it!"

Yukari blanched. "H-hey! Come on, Stupei, nobody actually _believes_ something that ridiculous. …Right, guys?" She looked around for support, eyes settling quickly on Minato himself.

Unfortunately for her, as unlikely as he might've found the specific claim, he couldn't quite dismiss the idea out of hand. _Um, Yukari… You do remember what our "after school club" actually does, don't you? And I've heard a few tales from my family that really make a guy wonder._

He was trying to figure out a tactful way to phrase that when Yukari's confidence was dealt another blow. "A ghost story, hm?" Mitsuru mused, looking unusually intrigued. "Do you have the details, Iori?"

Yukari stared at her senpai in shock. "Wh-what?" she sputtered. "Senpai, it's probably just some made-up scare story! Don't tell me _you're_ taking it seriously!"

"Oh, I dunno," Akihiko contributed, smiling faintly. "It sounds kinda interesting. All right, Junpei, let's hear it."

As the archer stared at the boxer in sheer disbelief, Junpei flashed a grin, pulled a flashlight out of seemingly nowhere, and turned to their resident detective. "Alrighty! Minato, if you could do the honors, my man?"

_What the hell. Why not?_

Completing Yukari's collapse into total astonishment, Minato sauntered over to the light switch, snapped it off, and leaned against the wall to listen attentively.

As Minato had expected, Junpei flicked on the flashlight and held it just below his chin, illuminating his face in an eerie glow while leaving the rest of the room dark. "Good evening," he said in a low, dramatic voice. "Welcome, my friends, to 'Junpei's Believe It, or Don't'. There are, as we all know, _strange_ things in this world, and some of them… are even stranger than what we deal with every night, ourselves. According to one story, for example… if you wander the halls of Gekkokan High at night… you'll be devoured… by a maniacal ghost!"

_Okay, I gotta give him points for delivery. He's gotta be a riot at campfires._ Minato squinted through the darkness at Yukari. _Hm. Don't think she's appreciative, though. Interesting; didn't think much scared her, these days._

"I've got more than just third-hand reports for this one, though," Junpei went on, voice low again. "The other day, this friend of mine… let's call him 'Shu'… He said to me, 'Junpei, I saw something strange!' He sounded real scared, so I asked him just what it was he saw. By frightening coincidence, it was about the girl in 2-E, Yuzuhira Maki! Yes, the very girl whose story precipitated this very investigation. Shu said he saw her, the very night she disappeared. He said, she actually walked into the school in the middle of the night, out of nowhere!"

_Into the school itself? That's a new wrinkle. What was she…?_

Junpei's expression was deeply serious, just barely too exaggerated to seem real. "Now, of course I was skeptical. We've heard enough about Yuzuhira by now to know, she's not that kind of girl, right? But Shu was white as a sheet; I could tell he believed every word he'd said! So I got to thinking, about every else I'd heard… and then I knew. The ghost must've tried to make her its midnight snack!" He shuddered dramatically. "I got a cold sweat, and a chill ran down my spine. We deal with many strange things, but ghosts… Yes, ghosts are a very different thing…" He paused, long and -again- dramatically. "This has been… Junpei's Believe It, or Don't."

The flashlight went out, and Minato flipped the main lights back on. Moving to take a place at the table, he was caught between rolling his eyes at Junpei's antics and bursting out laughing. Rolling his eyes won out, mostly because he was too busy putting together what little sense could be made of the story with what he already knew.

Mitsuru tapped a finger on the table, looking thoughtful. "Hm… What do you think, Akihiko?"

"…I dunno, I think it might be worth looking into." Akihiko nodded at Minato. "After all, we already know something odd is going on with 2-E, right? Can't hurt to ask around."

Yukari stared at her senpai with a look suggesting the gravest of betrayals had occurred. "You're actually taking this _seriously?"_ she said, disbelieving.

Junpei grinned at her. "Wow, Yuka-tan is afraid of ghosts, huh? I never would've guessed!"

She whirled to glare at him. "I never said I was afraid!" she snapped. "I… I just think this is absolutely ridiculous!" Yukari's hands clenched into fists. "Fine, then! How about we all look into this, not just Minato? I'll prove there's no 'ghost' at all!"

Mitsuru allowed herself a smile, one that left even Minato wondering exactly how serious she was being about the whole affair. "I would actually appreciate that, Takeba. It _is_ a little unnerving, to think that Gekkokan might really be haunted."

"Yeah, thanks." Akihiko's smile was decidedly more teasing. "I'll leave it up to you guys. Just don't forget to sleep with one eye open."

_I do that anyway,_ Minato mused. _In fact… I think I'm gonna stay up a bit late tonight. _He frowned suddenly, a thought distracting him even from Yukari reacting to some comment from Junpei by stomping on the latter's foot. _Come to think of it, speaking of ghosts… I haven't seen that kid in almost a month. I wonder…_

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

This time, Minato wasn't asleep in his bed when he perceived a change in his surroundings. He was instead standing by his window, still fully dressed, looking up at the eerie, huge yellow moon that marked the Hidden Hour, pocket watch open in one hand.

Some sense he couldn't name stirred uneasily, so he didn't even twitch when a high-pitched voice came from behind him. "Good evening. It's good to see you again." A chuckle. "I see you're still awake. Have you been expecting me?"

He turned to see the boy in the striped shirt sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling that eerie smile. "I had a hunch," Minato admitted. "It's been a while."

"Mm," the boy agreed. "Almost a month. But I told you I'd see you again, and I'm glad to see you remembered." He stood up, and moved to where he, too, could see the moon. "Ah, yes… It's getting close, isn't it? The Full Moon will be upon us in just another week. Are you prepared? Although I don't know that I really need to ask."

_So that's why I've been feeling like I did before the monorail. Dammit, Kyousuke, _remember_ that this time! If the kid is right, the phases of the moon mean _everything_ here._

"I'll be ready," he said aloud. "Now I know: after last time, I can handle myself. Even against 'Them'."

The boy's smile widened. "I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate for you to be taken unawares." He began to fade, as usual. "I'll see you again, don't worry. Stay safe until then, okay?"

Minato turned back to the moon, not even watching him fade completely. "I will," he muttered. "Even if I'm walking back into Hades, I'm never leaving anyone else behind in there again. _Never."_

* * *

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009, Morning

* * *

"…Ah, yes, here we have the phrase, 'mono susamajiku', which also appears in _Ugetsu Monogatari. _Of the _Ugetsu Monogatari_ stories, I myself am particularly fond of the story of the ghostly wife, a very interesting tale indeed. Eerie, as any ghost story, yet very poignant… Speaking of ghost stories, I know a good one. Would you like to hear it?"

Normally, Minato would've more or less zoned out during Classic Lit. Ekoda being a "spellbinding" speaker indeed, he usually found the work easier to do based on his existing reading and simply reading ahead in the textbook; the class time itself was usually better spent catching up on his sleep.

Right now, though, he was paying very close attention indeed to the man who also served as homeroom teacher for 2-E, poised to pick up on even the slightest clue. A good detective knew that sometimes the smallest of details could crack the entire case.

And who knew? This story might actually_ be _interesting. Might.

_**Of course, you've already missed half of it, Master.**_

"…So then his friend, who had entered the tunnel with him, suddenly began to scream, 'There's a girl right behind you!' Terrified, they ran back home. But from then on, he began to hear scratching noises each night… and a faint voice, saying, 'Let me in… Let me in…' But, as far as he knew, the room adjacent to his was vacant. Then, one night, he decided to try knocking on the wall from which the sounds were emanating."

A pause, presumably for dramatic effect; Minato found himself almost holding his breath in anticipation. Almost.

"Right next to his ear, loud and clear this time, came a voice. 'I'm here!' That's how he got a new family member, and they lived happily ever after. That's all for today, class!"

…_I wish I'd caught the name of the story. Negative points for delivery, but that actually sounded pretty interesting. Just need a few more details, Sensei._ Minato sighed wearily. _More interesting than the rest of the week is likely gonna be. From what she said this morning, it sounds like Yukari is taking this challenge a bit more seriously than I expected her to._

_**One has to admire dedication, Master. And that knave deserves to be disproved!**_

_Yes, but she's going to run me into the ground along the way. It seems to me Yukari is the only one who _does_ seriously think there's a chance there's a ghost involved. Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai are probably just having a little fun, and Junpei's _definitely_ just messing around. She doesn't need to take this so seriously._

_**Look on the bright side, Master. She's so intent on this that she might actually pick up something useful about the case.**_

_Meh. There's always hope, I guess._

* * *

Thursday, June 4th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Man," Junpei groaned, "don't you think Yuka-tan is taking this whole thing just a bit too seriously, Minato?" He sighed, energy seeming to flag faster the closer they got to the school gates. "Tell me you're not buying into this as much as she is."

"…Not quite," Minato admitted, unhappy at having to agree with the Man in the Hat. "But I'm already doing so much snooping as-is that I'm keeping my ears open for anything about ghosts."

"Seriously? C'mon, man, we can just leave this one to her. Sure as hell _I'm_ not wasting my time…" Junpei had turned to Minato mid-sentence; whatever he saw made him abruptly close his mouth. "A-anyway, I see Shu up ahead. Got some things to take care of with him. Later, Minato!"

Watching Junpei break into a jog, Minato slowly shook his head. _Ookay. Wasn't Shu just the name he used for that story…? Oh._

"Well, _he's_ in a hurry," Yukari commented with some exasperation, jogging up to join him. "Not likely to do anything useful, of course." She glanced at him sidelong. "So, have you been doing any research, Minato?"

"Some," he assured her. "I _do_ have a lot on my plate these days, mind, but I'm looking into it."

"Me, too," she said, sounding tired but satisfied. "I'm getting tired, but I've heard some useful information, and I think I'm on the verge of a break in the case." She eyed Junpei's retreating back. "Unlike _some_ people, I think… Anyway, I'm gonna keep checking. Should have something by tomorrow night."

_Good. I'd like to get _something_ finished and out of the way; even I'm starting to feel the strain._

* * *

Friday, June 5th, 2009, Evening

* * *

_So. Tonight's the night we put the "ghost story" stuff to bed, eh? I wonder what Yukari's managed to dig up, and if it's really that different from what I picked up on._

Returning to the dorm after another round of trying to keep Kenji's creepiness from reaching critical mass, Minato had to admit to being of two minds about the upcoming discussion. On the one hand, he really did think Yukari's enthusiasm was getting the better of her this time, and that the "ghost" angle was just the urban legend she claimed it was. Indeed, he was fairly sure she _did_ put some stock in the idea, or she wouldn't have been trying so hard to debunk it; he, on the other hand, thought that if anything supernatural _was_ involved, it was just a coincidental Shadow attack.

He also was reasonably sure she wouldn't have turned up much, if anything, that his own investigation into the Yamagishi Case hadn't already.

_On the other hand, it's a welcome distraction from Kenji. I _don't_ think Ms. Kanou has the least idea how he's interpreting events, and sooner or later it's all going to blow up in his face. Next to that, chasing ghosts is relaxing._

Yukari was already in the lounge, resting in one of the chairs, when Minato entered; the look on her face was positively smug. It was also, to his eyes, more than a touch relieved, but he was willing to let that slide rather than rub her nose in things. Everybody was scared of something, after all.

_Hell, if I thought there really was a ghost involved, _I'd_ be shaking in my shoes. I've seen my share of scary stuff, and Grandpa's stories, well…_

"Glad to see you didn't forget," she said by way of greeting. "I think we can put this to rest tonight. If Junpei ever shows up, anyway. Did you see him anywhere?"

Minato shook his head. "I've been dealing with Kenji's… situation. Came straight from Wild Duck Burger. But if I know him-"

"Ta-da! Junpei is in the house, baby!"

"-He'll be along shortly."

The door to the dorm swung open, and Junpei Iori swept in with a flourish, suggesting to Minato that either he was really excited about ending this whole mess, or he'd won a bet with someone and had an all-you-can-eat ramen event to celebrate.

_If so, I don't want to know what the bet was about. Some things are better left unsaid._

Regardless, Minato was fairly sure that it wasn't the ghost story investigation that had Junpei in such a good mood, because much of the levity left his expression as soon as he saw Yukari. Or, at least, Yukari's face, which to be fair was sporting a pretty impressive glare. "Oh, yeah. You said you wanted to talk about the ghost story thing tonight, didn't you?"

"Right. And did you actually do any research yourself, Junpei?"

The Man in the Hat waved a hand. "Aw, c'mon, why bother? You're the one who'd hear all the girl talk, and Minato here would pick up anything else. Why cover the same ground twice?"

"…You know," Minato said thoughtfully, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I think he has a point."

Yukari rolled her eyes. "I hope you don't mean that as a compliment. Anyway, I assume you _did_ look into it, Minato?"

He nodded, moving to slide onto the couch to her left, while Junpei took the one opposite. "It tied in with what I was already investigating, more or less. Time to compare notes?"

"And put this whole thing to rest," she agreed, with some satisfaction. "Okay, first: I thought it was a little strange that the story got so much momentum to begin with. I mean, with everything else that's been going on, what's one more collapsed student, more or less? There had to be more to it than what we knew already."

Minato had come to the same conclusion himself, early in the week. One more case of Apathy Syndrome should've just been a one-day gossip wonder, after all. "Yuzuhira was only the first," he said. "Ari Tohno and Mai Niiya have since been found under the exact same circumstances."

"Exactly." Yukari nodded to Minato. "I was surprised, I admit. Three nights in a row, starting with Yuzuhira, the same thing happened. They went missing, and the next morning were found unconscious in front of the school gate. And from everything I heard, all three are still unconscious, worse even than most cases of Apathy Syndrome."

Junpei blinked. "Seriously? That's… weird. The Lost don't usually turn up in a pattern like that, do they?"

Yukari's eyebrows went up, looking mildly surprised that Junpei had picked up on it. "You're right, and that was the next question. What exactly did the three of them have in common?"

The moment of brilliance was transitory. "How should I know? C'mon, Yuka-tan, how often do you think I hang around the girls? That's Akihiko-senpai, not me. Or maybe you, Minato, you see to be getting a lot of attention lately. Yuko, Chihiro…"

"Put a sock in it," Minato said bluntly, enjoying the look on Junpei's face at the uncharacteristic turn of phrase. "Yuko is the club manager, and for your information, Chihiro Fushimi still looks like she's seen a ghost herself if I so much as talk to her." He shook his head. "On topic: the girls who collapsed were known to hang out together. Moriyama's clique, from what I heard."

Another nod from Yukari, who had looked oddly irritated by Junpei's comment about girls. "Right. They're the 'popular' girls, and from what I could tell were in the on the kind of bullying I heard Natsuki and Maki talking about the other day."

_In short, _Minato thought to himself, relaxing against the couch cushions, _nothing that I didn't manage to pick up myself. There's still the question of what the hell they were doing at school past midnight, but I think that's something on the Shadow end of things. If what that kid said is right, and I'm starting to see the pattern myself, something big will happen next week. That's probably connected._

He frowned then. _Of course, I haven't _told_ the others about the warning. But… what the hell do I say? A strange boy turns up in my bedroom during the Dark Hour sometimes and gives me cryptic warnings about the future, before disappearing into thin air? Even by our standards, that's crazy._

The blue-haired swordsman was sufficiently caught in his thoughts that he mostly missed what Yukari said next. "Now, that still leaves the question of what exactly they were doing, and it so happens I have a lead."

_It's like the Velvet Room. The Dark Hour and Tartarus are one thing; we all see and experience those. Igor and Elizabeth have only appeared to me, and I'm the only one who can even see the door. That kid is even weirder, and hell, I _don't_ have any proof that I'm not hallucinating. At least with Igor I've got the Velvet Key, and for that matter my call history from when Elizabeth called me._

"_You_ have a lead," Junpei said skeptically. "Like what, exactly?"

"I found out where they usually hung out," Yukari said smugly. "It's actually not too far from the school."

"Wait, are you talking about that place behind Port Island Station?"

"You know about it? Yeah, that's the one," she confirmed. "So, I figure tomorrow after school we'll all go there and ask around."

Junpei opened his mouth to protest, but Minato actually beat him to it, shooting to his feet with uncharacteristic alacrity. "Are you crazy?" he demanded bluntly, face paling. "You know what kind of people hang out there, Yukari?"

"The kind of people we need to talk to," Yukari replied, surprised by the strength of his reaction. "Okay, yeah, it's a little 'dangerous', but nothing we can't handle, right?"

"A _little?"_ he repeated incredulously, for once in full agreement with Junpei. "Yukari, that place is very, very bad news. _I_ don't go there."

"What, are you saying you can't handle it?" Her tone was challenging, and he didn't like the look in her eyes.

_Oh, hell. This "ghost story" business has got her on the warpath for sure. Dammit, Yukari, you pick _now_ to get a confidence boost? You really don't know what the _hell_ you're talking about!_

"I didn't say I couldn't handle it," Minato said through gritted teeth. "There is, however, a difference between 'handling' a situation itself and dealing with the aftermath. You go in there, you're risking more than you realize."

"Oh, somehow I don't think I have to worry about that with _you_ around, Minato," Yukari said, smiling in a way that made him distinctly nervous. "Look, it'll be fine. We go in, ask a few questions, look tough if we have to, and go home. No big deal."

Minato and Junpei shared a look of mutual apprehension. _Crud. Crud. _Crud._ Yukari, it ain't your virtue I'm worried about here…_

"Minato," Junpei said quietly, "please tell me you're not going to just sit back and take this."

"Do _you_ want to take a crack at this?" he replied, just as quietly. "I know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, and it's not getting through." At the latter's resigned nod, he turned back to the archer. "All right, fine. Have it your way. But, Yukari, _I_ am taking point on this one, just like any operation, got it? When things go south, you follow my lead, or so help me I'm tying you to a chair myself."

"That's fine." Yukari leaned back in her chair, looking smugly satisfied. "This time tomorrow, we'll have our answers, and this case will be closed."

The boys shared another look. One that said, quite plainly, _We are _so_ doomed._

* * *

Saturday, June 6th, 2009, After School

* * *

"I do _not_ get you, Yuka-tan. How the hell can you be afraid of ghosts, but not going to a place like _this?!"_

"Well, it's easy to be afraid of things you can't see, don't you think? You can't fight what you can't see or touch, so wouldn't that be scarier?"

A nervous snort. "I'm more afraid of things I _can_ see, thank you very much. Like bats. And _knives."_

Two of the three students walking down the steps from Port Island Station were bickering, and as usual the third was in pretty much total agreement with one side of the argument. The difference was that this time, it was Junpei Iori he was agreeing with.

_It is a very, very bad sign when _Junpei_ is the voice of reason,_ Minato thought uneasily, leading the trio toward the last place he wanted to anywhere near. _I'm just very, very glad that Yukari agreed to stop by the dorm before we entered the kill zone._

His friends were still in their basic Gekkokan uniforms. Minato had taken the time to retrieve his reinforced duster, and carried Eurydice like the walking stick she was disguised as. He'd meant what he said to Yukari the previous night: things going wrong here were a matter purely of when. There was no question in his mind of "if".

The change in the surroundings was palpable as soon as they turned down an alleyway off to one side of the Station proper. There were a few Apathy Syndrome victims loitering about, but the main Station area was bright, clean, and full of well-dressed people, with a mix of ordinary students going about their own business. The local flower shop was doing brisk business, as was the movie theater.

All in all, one of the more popular places in Port Island to just hang out and have a good time.

Turning into the alley, things were immediately seen to be dirtier, with graffiti on the walls and several stenches Minato recognized, some of which from experiences he did _not_ want to be remembering just then. Cigarette smoke was the mildest; several more noxious things were present, and he devoutly hoped his friends didn't recognize the smell of blood as well as he did.

It wasn't long before the first "toughs" came into view. Not many adults frequented this area, but more than a few delinquents favored the dark corners behind Port Island Station, the kind derisively known to more upstanding people as "Yankees". Tattoos, piercing, hair of more improbable colors and styles than Minato's own improbably natural blue; chains, and shapes barely seen but which he was convinced were knives.

Minato Arisato didn't care to judge people based on appearance. He knew some perfectly upstanding people who merely _looked_ like they'd fit right in with a biker gang; conversely, some of the worst _boryokudan_ Yakuza were the snappiest dressers this side of a Victorian ball.

These guys made the _boryokudan_ he'd met that horrible day look classy. He could _feel_ the malice of this place, as if it had seeped into the very bricks and pavement. Indeed, some sense he couldn't name _did_ twinge and writhe in response to something that could not be seen, heard, or smelled.

"Looks like this is the place," Yukari commented conversationally, as they came out of the ally into a kind of square. "Now to get some answers."

"Oh, _man,_ I don't like this," Junpei moaned. "I _really_ don't like this…"

Some of the delinquents had noticed the interlopers, and by ones and twos they started to drift toward them, like sharks smelling blood.

_**Master. Let my strength be thine. Let my speed guide thine hands…**_

"Well, well, look what we got here," a delinquent with bleached hair and a headband drawled. "Those uniforms… Gekkokan, yeah?"

On the haft of his "walking stick", Minato's knuckles audibly creaked.

* * *

There were a lot of reasons that the youth in the maroon trench coat and shaggy hair chose to spend his days behind Port Island Station, rather than attending school. Though he was quite as tough as he looked, when he felt the need, the company that could be found there wasn't actually one of them. He kept to himself, most days, making no move to associate with the other delinquents.

Mostly, Shinjiro Aragaki just didn't give much of a damn what else went on there. He didn't come to this place for the people, and what they did wasn't his concern. Even when a few chatty girls from Gekkokan High came around, bragging about petty harassment, it really wasn't a blip on his radar.

The commotion he began to notice this day wouldn't have piqued his interest, either, if he hadn't happened to take a brief glance toward the noise. Just another tiff between rivals gangs, he might've assumed, and gone about his business without seeing what happened next.

Shinjiro almost moved on now, but then he realized he recognized the newcomers. The girl and the loudmouthed, goateed boy who'd visited Aki's hospital room that one time, and the calm blue-haired boy that seemed to lead them. They were in summer uniform now, and the leader had exchanged his Gekkokan jacket for a duster, but it was clearly the same three.

…_What the hell're they doing here?_

Mildly intrigued now, he took up a position to watch, close enough that he could move in if he really felt the need, far enough not to be noticed until then.

They were surrounded, now, by a small crowd of genuine delinquents. Goatee looked increasingly alarmed, and Duster had visibly tensed; Brunette, by contrast, seemed not to realize just what was going on.

_Idiot._

"D'you guys have any idea where you are?" the nominal leader of the toughs asked. His voice was deceptively friendly-sounding; Shinjiro knew it to be a lie, and from the look of it so did Duster.

Brunette didn't. "What's it to you?" she replied, giving him a look that didn't bother to conceal derision.

"What's it to me, she says." The tough looked at his fellows, and laughed. "What a riot, guys! Look, little girl," he went on, "maybe you don't know just where you made a wrong turn, so I'll let ya go this time. If you hurry."

"You know, that sounds like a fine idea to me. Right, Yuka-tan?" Goatee said nervously.

_Good idea._

She didn't take the hint. "What, you actually scared of these guys, Junpei?" "Yuka-tan" snorted. "Don't be intimidated by the likes of them."

A girl on the edge of the crowd sneered. "Ya hear that? 'The likes of them'. That's a laugh! Do you have a death wish?"

No mistake; Duster's hand was shifting on his walking stick, his whole body was tensing, and his eyes were evaluating the toughs and possible escape routes alike. Whatever his female friend might've been using for brains, Shinjiro could see that _this_ one realized precisely what situation they were in.

"Yukari," Duster said, very quietly, "I think we should take the kind offer. Right now."

Yukari scoffed. "Yeah, right. We can here for a reason, Minato, and I'm not about to leave without some answers. We haven't even gotten started."

The first tough had reached into his pocket, and was toying with something there. "You should take your friend's advice, girl. Beat it. Or else."

"Minato's" eyes narrowed. "Let go of the knife, friend," he said softly. "I apologize for our intrusion, but if you so much as touch my friends, I'll splatter your guts."

_Huh. I think he means it, too. This could be… interesting. And very bad, if somebody doesn't have an attack of sense._ There were, to Shinjiro Aragaki's mind, two kinds of people who wore long coats, especially black ones: wannabes who thought it made them look cool, and pros who _knew_ it was the ultimate in style. He was prepared to bet he knew which kind Minato was.

"Is that so?" The tough sneered. "Not gonna say it again. Beat it, while you're still breathing."

"I think that's absolutely-" Junpei began.

"Come on, you two," Yukari said derisively. "Don't tell me you're actually intimidated by these scum."

_Idiot!_

The crowd had gotten quiet at that one. "What did you just say?" the lead tough said dangerously. "You wanna repeat that, girl?"

"What, you didn't hear?" Yukari rolled her eyes. "I said you're-"

_Dammit, that's done it!_

Shinjiro could see the leader pulling out his knife, one of his friends reaching out toward Junpei, and was just about to make a move himself when Minato blurred. His walking stick snapped up, smacked the leader in the wrist, and swept up to clock him in the chin.

The tough's knife went flying, but Minato caught it before it went far. Spinning, he flung it past the ear of the one about to punch Junpei in the gut; a deliberate miss, Shinjiro was sure, but it sufficed to throw off the punk's aim. Then all hell broke loose.

Yukari's aplomb vanished the moment the knife came out, and now she ducked instinctively behind Minato for cover, Junpei -to the boy's credit- moving to guard her from the other side. Not a moment too soon, as a punch sailed through the space her head had just occupied. The one who threw it promptly doubled over, the business end of a stick driving the breath out of his lungs with a vicious jab to the gut; an impressive side kick blasted him into one of his buddies and tumbled both off to one side.

A bat came toward Minato's face, intent on breaking his nose; again, his motion was a blur, free hand grabbing it and stopping it cold. A chain was coming in from his side, and he used his grip on the bat to shove the punk into the chain's path. There was a cry of pain and an unpleasant ripping sound; Minato was already whirling away, ducking under a knife to sweep his walking stick through the legs of a girl advancing on Junpei.

Numbers were not in the Gekkokan contingent's favor, though. Shinjiro was impressed by Minato's skill, but he was apparently the only SEES rep who knew how to fight living people; it wouldn't be long before he was overwhelmed.

Minato obviously knew it, too. A knife grazed his face, opening a long, thin cut, and while he seemed oblivious to the pain, the look in his eyes was telling. They had started out cold and wary; now they were starting to take on a dull, dead look. It reminded Shinjiro unpleasantly of a shark.

A cry of pain signified Junpei taking a kick to the gut, accompanied by a yelp as a tough grabbed the back of Yukari's shirt and started to haul her to her feet. That was when he knew it had gone too far, knew what was going to happen next if he didn't act.

"Enough of this, dammit!" Shinjiro charged into the fight and put all of his momentum into a head butt, catching the leader just as he was starting to recover from Minato's initial hit. "Everybody stop, _now!"_

Not a moment too soon: with a rasp of steel on wood, Minato had revealed the true nature of his "walking stick", and sixty centimeters of gleaming steel had blurred into position directly above the arm holding Yukari's shirt. Into the sudden freeze, his voice was very cold, and very, very empty.

"Remove your arm," he ordered, very, very softly. "Or lose it. I told you: _I'll splatter your guts."_

"I'd listen to him, if I were you," Shinjiro advised with some disgust. "Look, I'll make them leave. They'll listen to me more than they will you."

The leader of the toughs wiped his mouth on his sleeve, smearing a trail of blood as he glared at Shinjiro. "You're taking _their_ side?" he spat. "I thought you were one of _us,_ Aragaki."

His response was to raise one eyebrow. "And where exactly did you get that idea? I don't remember swearing a blood oath. You think I'm the only one who hangs around here without having anything to do with you?"

The tough's glare hardened, catching the reference. "Oh, yeah… And you're from Gekko High, too, aren't ya?" He gestured to one of his "friends", who retrieved his knife and tossed it over. "I shoulda known… You think you're going home after that without some bleeding, Aragaki?"

"Sure do." Shinjiro nodded at the knife, which the tough only then noticed had lost its tip on impact with a brick wall, then Minato, who was only just sheathing his sword. "Like I said. I'll get them out of here, and you'll never see them again. No fuss, no police reports."

"…Feh. Do as you like. But _don't_ think we'll forget this, Aragaki!"

As the crowd backed off and began to disperse, Shinjiro snorted. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Things calmed rapidly from that point, Junpei regaining his breath while Minato helped Yukari up. The shark-like dullness was leaving his eyes, though he was still visibly tense; the aura of imminent, deadly violence was gone.

Yukari held onto Minato's shoulder for a few moments longer than seemed necessary, and nodded shakily to their rescuer. "Thanks," she breathed. "I… I thought…"

"You idiots!" Shinjiro snapped. "What the _hell_ did you think you were doing, coming here?" He began to turn away. "Just forget it, and get the hell out. You don't belong in a place like this." _Not where people like them hang around._

_Or like me._

Yukari's voice, rapidly regaining its strength stopped him short. "Wait a second! We can here for a reason, and we're not done yet."

He paused. "…You were in Aki's hospital room. This have anything to do with what he was asking me then?" His eyes narrowed. "Did Aki actually send you here?"

"No," Minato told him, tucking his sword into a set of loops sewn into the interior of his coat. "He doesn't know we're here."

"Feh." _Didn't think so. Aki's sentimental, not stupid._ "Okay, fine," Shinjiro said reluctantly, moving to sit on the steps to a nearby café. "What exactly are you here about? That girl in 2-E?"

"You know about it?" Yukari said in surprise.

"You learn a lot when you spend all day on the street," he said simply. "And there were some girls here talking about the Fuuka girl. I'm guessing you already know about that, or you wouldn't be here." He shook his head. "You've probably heard everything I could tell you, really. Anything else you'd have to get from them, and that ain't happening any time soon. Hell, people are saying Yamagishi's ghost got 'em."

The Gekkokan trio went very quiet. "Her ghost?" Junpei whispered. "Whaddya mean by that?"

It was Shinjiro's turn to be surprised. "You don't know? Fuuka may be dead. She hasn't been home in over a week." He shook his head at their expressions. "You go to the same damn school! How do you not know this?"

"We… we heard she was out sick," Yukari said unsteadily. "The school records…"

Minato's eyes briefly took on the dull look again. "Ekoda," he spat. "I knew something wasn't right. Damn him."

_A girl in trouble… Feh. Is that it?_ Shinjiro snorted audibly. "I get it now, Aki. You're still hung up on the past, aren't you?" Ignoring the others' curious looks, he stood back up. "That what you needed to know?"

"Y-yeah." Yukari essayed a smile, and bowed deeply, followed quickly by Junpei; Minato's contribution was a more restrained nod. "Thank you very much, Senpai!"

Something in Shinjiro twitched at that. "Tch. Just get the hell out, and don't come back," he said gruffly to cover it. "I won't always be here to bail you out, and your friend here is liable to start a bloodbath."

Shaking his head, Shinjiro Aragaki stalked off, back into the darker alleys of Port Island. Inside, though, something felt warmer than it had in a long time. He had, for once, done something to help someone.

He wondered idly if his soul could take it.

* * *

It was a much more subdued group that moved back to the lighter side of Port Island. Junpei was only beginning to get his color back, and Yukari was still shaking, inwardly deeply grateful for the comforting sight of Minato's dramatic coat and calm demeanor.

Mostly calm. He hadn't raised his voice, hadn't panicked, and had been as prepared as could be for what had happened. But he was visibly still tense, and Junpei had caught a glimpse of his eyes toward the end of the fight. There was not a shadow of a doubt in Junpei Iori's soul that Minato _would_ have taken that punk's arm off if Shinjiro hadn't intervened.

_But it's over now,_ he thought, tremendously relieved. _And I don't think even Yuka-tan is crazy enough for a repeat performance. We even got what we came for, crazy as it is. Just need to get back to the dorm, and-_

The sound of flesh striking brick startled both of them. Minato's fist had collided with the wall to his right, hard enough that blood was running down from his knuckles; his breathing was harsh, tightly controlled. Junpei couldn't see his face, but the way his shoulders were heaving told him he probably didn't want to.

Yukari watched him nervously. "M… Minato…?"

"Give me a second," Minato rasped. "I'll… be fine. Just… just don't try anything like this again, okay? That… would've been bad, if Aragaki hadn't shown up."

Junpei thought about asking what he meant, then thought better of it. He himself could think of at least one reason: that even the Kirijo Group would've had trouble covering up multiple cases of "justifiable homicide", especially committed with a sword. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was what Minato was talking about.

At length, as they finally resumed the walk back to the station, Yukari spoke up again. "Minato… I'm sorry."

"Forget it," he replied, beginning to sound more like himself. "Everybody gets one big mistake. This one could've been worse." He looked back with a shadow of his usual, easy smile. "Now that you've seen it, too, I doubt you'll be trying that again."

"No," she assured him fervently. "I won't."

Yukari did wonder, though, about the "too". Not enough to ask, but enough to remember the medical report about his reconstructed shoulder, and muse again that Minato really did come across as an action movie hero sometimes. What really made her wonder, though, was what she noticed when they got back to the dorm.

His knuckles weren't bleeding anymore. They didn't even look like they'd been split to begin with.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

Huzzah! An update in less than a year! Hell, one less than two years; didn't _mean_ to leave this lying fallow that long… Anyway. I'm not actually sure about the quality of this one; I'm not entirely happy with the flow of it, and I think I might've had just a bit too much fun with the Persona banter this time. It's also very nearly twice as long as I intended it to be, but it was mostly such a total slice of life chapter that I wanted it to at least end on a more dramatic note. So, I had to keep going till I reached the Port Island Station back-alley-fight.

Hopefully everyone will still be willing to wade through everything to get there. And down to here, for that matter.

That said, I'll be interested to get some feedback on how well in worked out. Still struggling some with staying true to the game without being a complete copy-paste of the game script, but I think it's getting there… And _next_ chapter I can at least promise will _start_ on a dramatic note, given what the next major event is.

Feh. Enough babble on my part. As some may know, my communications situation is a tad unstable at the moment, so review replies might take some time in coming, but I'll get to 'em when I can. If you guys leave any, anyway. Tally-ho, this is the Shark signing off. -Solid


	6. Chapter VI: Shadows of Oz

Monday, June 8th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

_It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her…_

Well, the wind was certainly howling, and it _was_ as creepily dark as usual for this "time" of night. Come to think of it, about the only thing about the quote that wasn't applicable was the pronoun. Of course, the bit about insane heart rate wasn't covered.

_And I'm not in a tornado, either. That would be saner._

_**Aye. But not nearly as exciting!**_

Pushing off again and letting more rope play out through his hands, hissing slightly as the friction burned his hands, Minato fought to keep steady against the wind, especially the drag created by his duster. At the same time, he cursed himself quite creatively, especially whatever it was that was substituting for the gray matter that was _supposed_ to be between his ears.

_Okay, a couple of nasty encounters with _boryokudan_ aside -hell, even the insanity in Nishinomiya- I've led a pretty normal life up till now. So why the _freaking hell_ am I rappelling down the side of a tower in the middle of the night?!_

His feet coming back into contact with the outer wall of Tartarus, Minato had all too much time and solitude to reflect on the insanity of his actions. He was about halfway down now: far enough to not hear anything more from Akihiko or Junpei, not far enough to actually help his friends yet. From the perspective of an observer, he was sure that he'd look quite epic, descending the Dark Tower in true shounen hero fashion. His sister, once she got over the shock, would doubtless be watching raptly.

_When, when, _when_ did my life turn into a _Featherman_ series?_

_**Around the time you decided fighting on the outside of a moving train was a good idea, Master?**_

_This is _not_ a good time, Pixie!_

He was fairly sure the day had started out something resembling normal. They'd even had a plan in place once it became clear that it wouldn't stay that way; a plan that, while chancy at the outset, wasn't actually that bad overall.

Unlike his teammates, Minato had suspected that the plan, as any other, wouldn't survive first contact with the enemy. He had _not_ expected-

A shrieking sound caught his attention, and he looked up anxiously just in time to see a Shadow resembling a pro wrestler take the same route he'd chosen: leaping clear out a window. Directly at him, in this case, and with absolutely no regard for its own safety. Naught but the simple intent of adding its mass to his own, with the catastrophic consequences that would imply, given the gravity of the situation.

_Oh, crud!_

Desperately locking his left hand on the rope with a death grip, Minato brought his right up to the hilt protruding over that shoulder. Eurydice came clear in a flash of steel, just as he pushed himself to one side a split second ahead of the falling Shadow. Struggling to maintain his balance, he swung the sword out to one side-

The Shadow-Wrestler missed him by centimeters. It did not miss his sword. Eurydice's keen edge intersected its neck, slicing neatly through it; a spray of arterial ichor gushed into the night, vanishing into smoke, while the Shadow's body and head disintegrated halfway down to the ground.

It still nearly killed him.

The momentum transferred from the Shadow to the blade flung Minato into a spin, almost making him lose his grip on the rope. As it was, he spun around in a disorienting whirl, city, Tower, and eerie yellow moon flashing past his eyes. In a moment, Tartarus won out the war of competing views, when the wild swinging slammed Minato's nose into its wall.

Hanging there limply, nothing but stars and pain filling his eyes, he wondered again just where things had gone wrong. After all, shouldn't the escape from the Port Island Station Delinquents have been worth something of a reprieve from karma's terrible effects on him?

_I'm going to _kill_ Ekoda. Slowly. I'm _sure_ this is all his fault, somehow._

* * *

Saturday, June 6th, 2009, Evening

* * *

After returning to the dorm, Minato paused only to give Yukari's shoulder a reassuring squeeze -the archer still looking a bit green after the afternoon's violence- before making his way with quick, purposeful steps up to the higher floors. He himself was still coming down off of what the back alley confrontation had done to him, but right now he had more urgent matters to attend to.

As he'd hoped, the two seniors of SEES were in the Command Room when he entered. Both looked up in surprise at the uncharacteristic abruptness of his arrival. "Arisato?" Mitsuru said, looking up from the papers she'd been perusing. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you look like somebody just ran over your dog." Akihiko's comment was intended to break the tension that had so abruptly entered; in his mood, though, Minato didn't even really notice.

"I've gotten just about as far in my investigation as I think I can reach myself," he said, a strange mix of anger, worry, and remembered fear roiling under his skin. "There's still some missing pieces, but what I've got isn't good."

The seniors exchanged concerned looks. Minato, to be sure, had a deliberate flare for the dramatic, but when the chips were down he was usually either cool as ice or quietly confident. Snark was his expression of choice, not bald concern.

Mitsuru moved to sit in the chair by the room's table, and motioned for Minato to take the couch. "What do you have, Arisato? Is it about Yamagishi?"

He nodded, dropping gracelessly onto the couch. "I have to admit," he began, "that most of this past week I haven't been looking into Yamagishi directly, Senpai. My slight concerns about her abnormally high rate of 'sick days' aside, it seemed pretty simple, so I was focusing more on 2-E as a whole; first some reports of bullying, and then that ghost story Junpei inadvertently got us all roped into."

"Makes sense so far, Detective," Akihiko offered, when Minato paused to let them digest it. "And you found…?"

"Well, Yukari and I found, more precisely. There were actually _three_ victims in the 'Ghost Case', which seemed to indicate Shadow activity was confirmed in the Yuzuhira matter." Minato clasped his hands, noticing belatedly that they were still shaking perceptibly. "Something I knew we needed to deal with, but, as far as I could tell, a complete coincidence as far as the Yamagishi connection was concerned. I was honestly going to leave it at that and focus on Ekoda from here on, but Yukari decided to follow up a lead she'd gotten about where all the new victims were hanging out. We went there this afternoon."

Akihiko frowned, then blanched. "Wait a second… You're not talking about that place behind Port Island Station, are you?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Are you guys nuts? I mean, it's commendable that you'd go to the kind of effort to track this stuff down, but seriously…!"

"_Not_ my idea," Minato said firmly. "I only went because I was pretty sure Yukari was going to do it with or without the rest of us. I _don't_ think she'll be doing it again."

Mitsuru looked closely at his eyes then, and realized abruptly that his tension had very little to do with the investigation results he was reporting. The young "detective" was badly shaken by something, but it wasn't Fuuka Yamagishi's situation.

_Flashbacks,_ she realized, recognizing a look she'd seen in her own eyes, some nights. _Whatever went down today took him back to a place he doesn't like to remember._

_**A wounded warrior,**_ Penthesilea said in her head, speaking up unexpectedly. _**I do not believe Arisato is accustomed to fighting men, rather than beasts. Neither, if I am any judge, is he completely unfamiliar with it.**_

She looked him over very carefully, then, and noticed a couple of faint blood smears on his usually immaculate coat. "…Arisato," she said softly, "is this something the Kirijo Group is going to need to intervene in?"

"Didn't quite reach that point," Minato told her, following her gaze. "The blood's mine; don't worry, I'm fine. A fellow by the name of Aragaki intervened before limbs started flying."

Akihiko sighed in audible relief. "That's Shinji for ya… He's a little rough around the edges, but he's got a good head on his shoulders. …So, what did you find out? I'm guessing Shinji was the only one there who was willing to talk."

"Right." The swordsman took a deep breath, banishing some of the tension into the back reaches of his mind. "Well. For someone I don't think I've ever actually seen turn up at school, he apparently has even better sources about it than _I_ do. And this is where things get worrisome. We knew Yamagishi hadn't been to school much lately. What even I hadn't learned is that she hasn't even been _home_ in over a week."

For a long, long moment the only sound in the room was the quiet whirring of the computers along one wall. One thing that had become apparent over the course of the investigation was that Fuuka Yamagishi might've been a bully magnet, might've been "fragile", might've been a dozen other things, but "delinquent" probably wasn't one of them. When she _was_ in school, Minato's clue-hunting had confirmed, she was actually quite a good student, both in grades and etiquette.

"…That's not good news," Mitsuru said at length, with quiet understatement.

"No. Damn straight it's not," Akihiko agreed. "Damn it… Like Minato said, Mitsuru, I didn't really think much of Yamagishi's situation. At most, I figured she'd been calling in 'sick' to stay away from bullies." Without warning, his gloved fist lashed out and hit the wall, producing a resounding _thud._ "Dammit! Over a _week?_ Who knows what's happened to her by now!"

"Calm down, Akihiko!" she said sharply. "Arisato, good work. I'll overlook the recklessness of your 'field trip', under the circumstances…" She frowned, mind racing. "All right. There's not much we can do about it right now. We still need a little more information, and trying to get it over the weekend would be… tricky." Mitsuru thought some more, then nodded decisively. "Monday, lunch time. You and Takeba meet me in the Faculty Office, all right? Bring Iori, too, come to think of it; he could have his uses here. There's no more time for the indirect approach."

Minato had a feeling he knew exactly what she was talking about. Not that he was going to disagree. Right this second, there was a teacher he very much wanted to punch in the face, if not more sensitive regions.

_**Dishonorable wretch,**_ he heard in his mind. _**For this, he deserves naught but the most honorless death, to be cast directly into Niflheim itself!**_

"We'll be there, Senpai," he promised, voice as cold as Valkyrie's. "Time to close this case, one way or another."

Standing to leave, though, Minato was chilled by a sudden thought. _Monday… That's the Full Moon, isn't it? If that kid is right… Damn. The timing of all this _really_ stinks._

Before he could quite reach the door, Mitsuru's quiet voice stopped him. "Arisato… are you all right?"

_Noticed, did she? Well, Penthesilea shows she's a perceptive one; I shouldn't be surprised she picked up on it._

Minato considered a variety of responses, and promptly discarded any thought of evasion this time. "No," he said simply. "I'm not. But I will be."

* * *

Monday, June 8th, 2009, Lunchtime

* * *

As per Mitsuru's instructions, Minato led what he was starting to truly regard as "his" team to the Faculty Office as soon as the bell rang for lunch. He suspected that he was going to be skipping the meal entirely over this, but under the circumstances he didn't really care. After everything that had been required to get this far -and after everything he was beginning to suspect Fuuka Yamagishi had had to go through- he wanted to put an end to this. Now.

There were already three people in the Office when they arrived. A very stern-looking Mitsuru, a mulish Mister Ekoda… and a very distraught, tanned brunette Minato recognized as Natsuki Moriyama. He was mildly surprised that there was no sign of Akihiko, but then, considering his reaction the other day, it seemed entirely possibly Mitsuru had kept him out of this out of fear he might break something.

_Like Ekoda. Not that I don't think he deserves it, if my deductions are correct._

Mitsuru saw them enter, and her expression softened briefly. "Right on time, you three," she commended. "Now, then," she went on, turning back to Ekoda, "shall we get started? I assume there's a reason Moriyama is here."

"Now, now, Mitsuru," Ekoda said, raising a placating hand. "Poor Natsuki here isn't really in any shape for this. If you'll just give me a few minutes with her, I'll give you the full story later. Right now, we need to-"

"Not this time, Mister Ekoda," she said sharply. "There's no time for cover-ups or face-saving. If you won't do your job, _we will."_ Ignoring the way Ekoda recoiled, Mitsuru turned her attention to Natsuki. "Now, then, Moriyama… What exactly happened?"

It took a few moments for the distressed brunette to find her voice. "It… it was just supposed to be a joke," she whispered. "We… thought Fuuka really needed to loosen up, and…" She broke off. "No. That's… that's not it. We thought it would be funny. But… but we didn't think it would come to this, really!"

"Come to what, Moriyama-san?" Minato interjected gently. "What happened ten days ago?"

Natsuki swallowed. "Well… That day, as school was letting out we… We locked Fuuka in the storage room in the gym. And then, we just… left."

He frowned. _The storage room? …Didn't I hear a rumor about something weird happening there in the last week or so? …That's an odd coincidence._

"All right, Natsuki," Ekoda said, trying to regain control of the situation. "That's enough. We can work out-"

"Enough," Mitsuru snapped. "Moriyama?"

The brunette closed her eyes. "It was just supposed to be a prank, but… Maki was worried. She thought that, well, if Fuuka suicided, we'd all get in trouble. So, that night, she snuck back into the school to let Fuuka out."

"She came back at night?" Yukari whispered. "So, that means…"

"She was probably here when the Dark Hour kicked in," Junpei agreed, for once equally quiet. "If she was just outside, she'd have been Shadow bait for sure."

_Yeah. But, damn… I have a bit of trouble sympathizing with Yuzuhira on this one. Pulling a prank like that, when they apparently already knew Yamagishi's emotional state was potentially suicidal?_

Natsuki wasn't finished with the tale of Maki Yuzuhira. "I don't know what she found, 'cause she didn't come back! The next morning, they found her…" She shuddered. "Then, when I went with Ari and Mai to check the storage room, it was still locked, but, but… Fuuka wasn't _there!"_

_Crud. I think I know where this is going. That's very, very not good._

Mitsuru closed her eyes, visibly calming herself. "And then, Moriyama?"

"I don't _know!"_ Natsuki wailed. "I don't know how Fuuka disappeared from a locked room, and I don't know what happened to Maki! But that wasn't even the end of it! Mai and Ari went back the next couple of nights, and now _they're_ in the hospital, too! I don't _know_ anything!"

"Calm down, Moriyama-san," Minato said, voice as soothing as he could make it. "Take it easy. We're going to fix this. We just need to know everything you can tell us about what happened." He paused. "Was there anything unusual about your friends' behavior before they collapsed?"

"I…" Natsuki swallowed again, hard, and took a few deep breaths. "Um… All I really remember is that they were all talking about hearing voices. I thought they were just imaging things, but I remember Maki really spaced out over it the first time."

The SEES members exchanged uneasy glanced. "Senpai," Yukari began, "does that mean…?"

"I don't think there's any doubt left," Mitsuru said grimly. "It's them. And this answers a few questions we'd had all this time about their behavior. We'll discuss it later." She turned back to Natsuki. "Moriyama, we're going to do our best to clear this up. In the meantime, I want you to stay at our dorm for tonight. That will keep you safe from whatever happened to your friends. Do you understand?"

"At the dorm…?" Natsuki stared at her. "I… Okay. But please… save Fuuka."

"We have every intention of doing just that."

_Damn straight. I'm not leaving someone behind in Tartarus. Never. Not again._

Ekoda cleared his throat nervously. "Now, now, Mitsuru. There's really no need to take this so seriously. I'm sure…"

"You _knew,"_ Mitsuru spat, fixing him with the most frightening glare Minato had ever seen out of her. "You _knew_ Yamagishi hadn't been home in over a week, and you did _nothing._ How many _other_ absences of hers have you covered up as 'illness', hm? And why?"

He waved a hand, swallowing nervously. "I was thinking of the students, of course! They're all good kids; why muddy their reputations over-"

"Liar," she interrupted, eyes flashing angrily. "If you were thinking of 'the students', you'd have taken action, however discrete." She paused, seeming to remember then about her subordinates. "Arisato, you three meet me with Akihiko in the Student Council room after school, all right? For now, you should have lunch and get back to class. I'll finish up here."

"Understood, Senpai." Nodding with careful respect -unwilling to chance Mitsuru's uncertain temper at the moment- Minato led his friends back out into the hall.

Not, however, before he heard just a little bit more of Mitsuru's tirade. "You're a disgrace, Mister Ekoda, and _don't_ think that this is the end of it. I _will_ be taking action in the wake of what you've done here…"

* * *

After School

* * *

"So, what do you think Senpai is gonna do to Ekoda?" Junpei wondered aloud. "I knew she could be scary, but _damn._ That was worse than the ghost story!"

The three younger members of SEES were, in this case, the first to arrive in the Student Council room; and, like junior officers anywhere, occupied themselves wondering what their superiors were up to.

"She can be intimidating," Yukari agreed, slumping in a chair by the U-shaped table. "…Well, the Kirijo Group does own the school, so she can probably do just about anything she wants to. Not," she conceded, with evident reluctance, "that Ekoda doesn't deserve it. I mean, ten _days,_ and he _knew_ about it? How much running around could we have been saved if he just came out and told the truth?"

Minato, leaning against one wall, nodded ruefully. _Would've saved a little blood, too,_ he thought. _In fact, that and the "ghost story" nonsense is what you're most thinking of, isn't it, Yukari? You wouldn't have hauled us off to that gang hangout if we'd gotten the full story earlier._

_**Aye. But Master, consider also the lesson learned there. Had we not gone, Yukari might have learned caution in a much more brutal fashion, sometime in the future. Sometime worse, mayhap, without us or Aragaki to temper matters.**_

_Heh. Maybe so._

"Ekoda will be lucky to keep his job after this," Junpei opined, oblivious. "I mean, this is really serious, guys. Two students in the hospital, another missing? It won't take much to dig up all the dirt they need to can the guy." He brightened. "Hey, maybe Mitsuru-senpai will call in the Kuzunoha Detective Agency! The Kirijo Group has the money, I'm sure they'd settle for nothing less than the best!"

Minato snorted lightly, a small smirk forming on his face. "Overkill, Junpei. We've already dug up most of the 'dirt' all by ourselves; calling in Raidou Kuzunoha at this stage would be almost insulting."

"To us or him?" Yukari wondered.

"Both. That's like asking Sherlock Holmes to look into stolen lunch money, and makes _us_ look like we can't finish what we start." He sniffed, mock-offended. "Are you really suggesting, Junpei, that my skills are inferior?"

_**You're enjoying yourself a little too much, Master,**_ Pixie commented, amused. _**They really have no idea what you're talking about, y'know.**_

_Of course I know. That's what makes it so funny._

Raidou Kuzunoha. The long line of private detectives known for handling the cases even the police's finest couldn't; having emerged almost as far back as the Sengoku Era, the current holder of the hereditary name was the Fourteenth. Reputedly getting on in years, he was still Japan's foremost criminal investigator-despite which, very few actually knew his real name. Outside of the line's closest associates, no one even knew for sure if the name was passed down in direct line of descent, or if they took in any apprentice who seemed worthy.

Junpei rolled his eyes. "C'mon, 'Leader'. You may be hot stuff for an amateur, but comparing yourself to the greatest? Next you're gonna say you could be the next Raidou yourself!"

Minato couldn't help it. That one got a genuine laugh out of him.

"Seriously, though," Yukari said, looking between the two as if they'd gone insane, "what _do_ you guys think will happen to Ekoda? As serious as this is…"

"Slap on the wrist," Minato predicted, sobering. "The Kirijo Group will be keeping a very close eye on him after this, I'm sure, but they also have to be discrete. Honestly, I think Yamagishi's disappearance is going to have to be covered up on our end, too. The last thing we need is people asking questions that could lead to the truth."

"'Cause we don't want people panicking over Shadows," Junpei realized glumly. "Well, damn. I thought maybe we'd be rid of the guy after this."

"Look on the bright side, Junpei: he's not going to have any credibility in the school again, at least not for a long while." Minato shook his head. "I don't think he'll risk calling any of _us_ on falling asleep in class anytime soon, at least. He knows we're connected to Senpai now. And one thing Ekoda is _not,_ is brave."

The Man in the Hat brightened at that, and was still considering the possibilities when the door slid open.

"I've sent Moriyama home to our dorm," Mitsuru said without preamble, leading Akihiko in. "She should be safe for now, which leaves us free to plan tonight's operation."

"An operation?" Junpei repeated. "Tonight? Uh, Senpai, we still don't even know exactly what-"

"Yes, we do," Akihiko interrupted, looking unusually grim. "Yamagishi was still in the school ten days ago when the Dark Hour began. She was _not_ in the school when morning came. Which means she's almost certainly still here."

"Still here…?" Yukari echoed. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean-!"

"Akihiko is probably right," Mitsuru said, sighing; she took a seat at the table herself, across from where Minato was leaning. "Yamagishi most likely entered Tartarus, and never left."

Junpei swallowed. "But, Senpai… that means she's gotta be… I mean, ten _days…"_

"No!" Akihiko said forcefully. "There's still a good chance that she's alive." He paused, visibly forcing himself to calm down. "Look, Junpei. Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour, right? So where do you think it is the _rest_ of the time?"

"Huh…? Where…?"

Minato's head came up. "Time differential," he stated. "If it exists outside of normal time, then it likely ceases to exist entirely during normal time. If that's true, then for Yamagishi, it hasn't _been_ ten days, but rather ten hours."

He felt himself relax at the realization. Even leaving aside all the other problems, Minato knew one thing for sure about Tartarus: there was nothing resembling the kind of food or water supplies that would be needed to keep someone alive for ten days. If it _had_ been that long, Fuuka Yamagishi would've long since died of thirst, if something else hadn't gotten her first.

Mitsuru was nodding in agreement, but Yukari didn't look much mollified. "Senpai, that's great, but… it's still _Tartarus_ we're talking about. _We_ can barely manage one hour in there, and we go armed and can use our Personas. _Ten_ hours? I don't see how…"

"So, you're just going to give up on her?!"

Even Minato tensed at the uncharacteristic heat from Akihiko. The boxer looked about ready to break walls; a far cry from the usually composed, mature senior they were all used to.

"Akihiko," Mitsuru said quietly; she alone seemed unperturbed by his outburst. "Takeba, your concern _is _valid. Nonetheless, I'm not at all sure this is a chance we can ignore."

"Damn straight," Akihiko muttered.

"I agree, Senpai," Minato said, nodding. "If there's even a chance Yamagishi is alive, we can't just leave her in there." He hesitated. "I think we do have one problem, though: how do we _find_ her? I don't know what happens if you enter Tartarus the way she did, but I suspect you don't end up right at the entrance."

"Actually," Akihiko began, some of the heat gone from his manner, "I have an idea about that. What if we enter Tartarus the exact same way?"

There was silence for several moments at that, and the blue-haired swordsman's mind worked furiously. _In theory, that could take us to the place where Yamagishi first ended up,_ he conceded. _But it's only a theory. One of our biggest problems exploring the Tower has always been that it's like a randomly-generated dungeon in an RPG; the internal structure changes from day to day, so the storage room probably isn't exactly co-extent with Yamagishi's entrance point anymore._

_Moreover, Yamagishi herself almost certainly isn't in the same place anymore. If she _has_ managed to avoid being Shadow food, she'll have had to move around a lot._

_**It may, however, at least get us within a closer radius,**_ Valkyrie pointed out. _**That might well reduce the search area; and as for getting lost, there **_**is,**_** theoretically, another way out. As I believe you've been contemplating, Master.**_

"Senpai," Junpei said at length, looking troubled, "that's risky as hell. We could end up just as lost, couldn't we?"

Akihiko's expression was challenging, unyielding. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. If none of you want to come along, I'll do it myself."

Minato didn't doubt that the boxer meant it. Now that he'd finally healed from his chest injury, Akihiko Sanada looked ready to take on the world with his bare hands.

There was another silence, before Mitsuru sighed. "It is certainly a risk," she acknowledged quietly. "Regardless, I believe Akihiko is right. If there is _any_ chance of Yamagishi being alive, we have to take it. We'll take every precaution we can, but we'll commence the operation tonight. Arisato, will your team be ready for this?"

The swordsman took a moment before replying, looking over his classmates. Junpei, despite his obvious unease, was just as obviously raring to go; something which, honestly, didn't really surprise him. Yukari took a moment to think things through herself, before giving him a nervous but firm nod.

"We're good," Minato said then, feeling anticipatory tension sink into his muscles and tendons. "…I don't like the idea of leaving someone in that Hell, either."

"Very well, then. Meet in the Command Room tonight; in the meantime, I'll try to get in touch with the Chairman for final details. Tonight, we're bringing Yamagishi back."

* * *

Evening

* * *

Five grim-faced teens met that night in the computer-adorned room at the top of the otherwise "normal" dorm. As was usual before an operation, any teacher who saw them would've instantly called in the police, assuming they didn't simply dismiss it as cosplay.

Considering the look Akihiko Sanada in particular wore, the law enforcement option was probably the more likely. Minato, for one, almost wouldn't blame them for the reaction.

He himself had changed into his armored duster, SEES armband around one bicep and Eurydice slung over his back; in the wake of the actions the previous major operation had forced on him, he'd added a couple of tools to the coat's deep pockets, just in case. Minato didn't intend to do anything quite so insane this time, but he was all too well aware that what he "intended" usually bore very little resemblance to reality when blades came out.

Yukari stood to his right, equipped more or less the same as last time. She still regretted her decided lack of close-combat capability, but it wasn't something that could be changed overnight. For now, the team as a whole had simply decided she was better off in a support position; with Akihiko back in fighting trim, a repeat of the monorail split-up was much less likely.

Junpei, by contrast, had added gloves to his own ensemble, wore a Kevlar vest with a high collar, and had switched out his excessively huge katana for a more normally-proportioned version. According to Mitsuru, though Officer Kurosawa had acted as the middleman, the blade itself was of Kirijo Group origin, specially made for fighting Shadows.

Minato approved of the change, personally, though privately he thought Junpei was remiss in having not actually named the blade. _Feh. I suppose there's time; maybe he just doesn't have anything significant to reference, yet. At least he's learning from his mistakes._

Akihiko was, for the first time in Minato's memory, fully equipped for battle. He wasn't skimping on it, either; a boxer he might be by training, but he wasn't making the mistake of treating real battle like the ring. He wore a red vest as usual, but thicker, presumably armored, and instead of boxing gloves he wore tough leather with heavily-reinforced knuckles.

The blue-haired swordsman rather thought Akihiko was the closest to understanding real battle of the team, at least after himself.

Mitsuru, who was just now getting off her cell phone with a grimace, was attired more or less as normal, her only concessions to combat conditions being a light Kevlar vest, her Evoker, and her beloved rapier. Of course, she was intending to act only as mission control, so her battle capacity wasn't what really mattered here.

She muttered something in French under her breath, something that sounded vaguely uncomplimentary to Minato's ears. "We may have a problem," the red-haired senior continued. "The Chairman isn't answering his phone, and there's no one else among the school faculty that we can trust with these matters."

"So?" Akihiko demanded impatiently. "We've already got a plan, Mitsuru; we can run things by ourselves just this once!"

"I'm not denying that," she told him, with surprising patience. "Unfortunately, without the Chairman's assistance I don't know how we're going to get into the school itself."

"Of all the-!"

To Minato's surprise, Akihiko's outburst was cut off by a chuckle. From _Junpei,_ of all people, who flashed a wide grin when all eyes turned to him. "Aw, is that all? Don't worry, Senpai! Getting into the school will be a cinch. It's all set to go!"

Minato and Yukari both stared at him, the latter shocked, the former genuinely impressed. Even Mitsuru's eyebrows went up-yet, perhaps more surprisingly, she too looked more impressed than anything else. "Set to go?" she repeated. "An explosive…? Well, I suppose the circumstances _are_ a little extreme." She nodded decisively. "I'll leave it to you, then. Let's go."

She headed for the door at a brisk pace, Akihiko following closely, his gait suggesting he would've preferred to move faster yet. Their juniors hurried after them, hanging back only far enough to exchange a few quiet words.

"_Explosives?!"_ Yukari hissed, wide-eyed. "Are you _serious,_ Junpei?"

The Man in the Hat looked a little sheepish. "…Actually," he admitted, "all I did was unlock a door before we left today. I dunno how to set a bomb; hell, I don't know where to _get_ one. Officer Kurosawa doesn't sell that kind of stuff."

"Still good thinking," Minato mused. "But y'know, if you want to be better prepared next time, I know a good supplier-"

"Minato," Yukari said, voice almost a growl, "we _don't_ need to know about black market bomb makers. And we _especially_ don't need to know why _you_ know where to get pipe bombs."

Trailing the older members down the stairs toward the lobby, Minato shot his friend a quizzical look. "Who said anything about pipe bombs? I was thinking military-grade plastic-"

"Minato. Shut. _Up."_

_**You're enjoying yourself **_**way**_** too much, Master. Even if it's true.**_

Junpei gave Minato a wide-eyed look of his own. "Dude," he breathed, "what kind of school did you _come_ from? The Tokyo Academy of Assassins or something?"

"Legacy of a misspent youth." The blue-haired swordsman tapped his left shoulder. "Not from playing checkers, Junpei."

_**Loathe though I be to admit it, Master, Pixie hath the right of it: you are enjoying this too much.**_

* * *

For all that Minato was the member of the team most known for being sneaky, he had to hand it to Junpei this time. When they arrived at the school, they did indeed find one of the side doors carefully unlocked, and even more carefully made to look normal.

"So, you tampered with one of the emergency exits," Mitsuru mused as they slipped into the darkened school. "Tres bien! That was excellent thinking, Iori."

Junpei shrugged modestly. "Eh, I'm learnin' to think outside the box, Senpai. Just part of being with SEES, y'know?"

"Indeed." She spared him an approving smile, before turning her attention to the next problem. "All right. That got us inside, but we still need access to the gym's storage room. We'll need to find the key; that will be in either the janitor's closet, or the Faculty Office."

"Unless our Detective here can spare us the need," Akihiko put in, with a smirk; his attitude seemed to have improved now that the operation was actually underway. "How about it? Got a lock pick in that coat of yours, Detective?"

All eyes turned to Minato, who for once glanced away uncomfortably. "Ah. Actually, lock-picking is one skill I _haven't_ mastered yet. I always left that up to… Never mind. Sorry, Senpai."

_Why do I get the feeling you were _not_ just an honor's student at your last school, Arisato?_ Mitsuru thought, looking at the field leader through narrowed eyes. _Most of the time, you come across as the most upstanding of all of us; then there are the times you start implying delinquency in your past._

_I'm not sure whether to be intrigued or concerned. You are without doubt the most confusing person I've ever met, Arisato. At the least, however, you're never _boring.

Akihiko coughed, dragging her attention back to the matter at hand; somewhat to her annoyance, he looked amused. "Well, then. Shall we split up and search both? Might be faster that way."

Junpei brightened. "Ooh! I got the Faculty Office, Senpai. I'll find that key in no time." A roguish grin split his face. "And, who knows, maybe there'll be some test answers in there…"

A pause. Yukari instantly turned a glare on him, and Mitsuru's eyes abruptly narrowed again. Akihiko, on the other hand, looked intrigued. "Oh, really? …Maybe I'll go with your team, Junpei. Be faster with two of us…"

_**Oh, my. This looks fun.**_

_**Aye. And perhaps it be my imagination, but does it not feel cooler in here, of a sudden?**_

"Ahem," Mitsuru said into the thoughtful silence, a frosty look coming over her. "You two wouldn't be thinking of cheating, would you? Because I assure you, that _would_ result in… punishment."

Akihiko instantly blanched. "No, of course not!"

"It was just a little joke, Senpai!" Junpei agreed, nodding vigorously. "We wouldn't even dream of actually doing that!"

She stared at them for several seconds longer, seconds that felt like a stay in Cocytus itself. Then, "I see. Well, then, the two of you will be coming with me to check the janitor's closet." She turned to the other two. "Arisato, Takeba, you two check the Faculty Office."

Minato nodded amiably. "We're on it, Senpai." He glanced to his designated companion. "No problem for us, right?"

"Not at all," Yukari agreed at once, smiling.

Junpei's glance shifted between them and their senpai. "Hey, wait a second. You trust _them_ to go there, but not us?"

"If Arisato felt the need to cheat, he's had ample opportunity," Mitsuru pointed out, reminding the others of the investigation that had led to this point. "Also, as I believe we've all seen, he's unlikely to _need_ to. Any further objections? I remind you we need to be ready by the time the Dark Hour begins."

Minato pulled out his watch at that. _Quarter after eleven,_ he noted. _Forty-five minutes. That should be enough time, but we shouldn't dawdle. Trying to enter from the same place as Yamagishi is risky enough; who knows what would happen if we entered from somewhere else._

Complicating matters, he knew, was the presence of the night guards. There were only a couple of them, this being nominally an ordinary school with little reason to expect a break-in, but Minato didn't really know their schedule. Not having expected to need to break into the school after dark, he'd never bothered to look into the matter.

_Add that to the to-do list,_ he remarked to his Personas. _Along with lock-picking. Naoto always said I was slacking off too much on that._

_**And she was right.**_

As the two groups moved off into the darkened school, Junpei made one last parting shot over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah, Yuka-tan: be careful not to run into any ghosts!"

"Shut up, Stupei!" she hissed back. "I keep telling you-!"

"Stop calling me-!"

"Keep it down, both of you," Akihiko snapped. "I swear…"

_Okay. Fox-Hound material, we ain't. Even bad guys _wanting_ us to win wouldn't help with stealth this bad._

_**Do you always think in video game metaphors, Master?**_

_You guys were the ones arguing about comic books the other day. Look in the metaphorical mirror sometime._

* * *

The group had entered near the gym; Minato and Yukari therefore found themselves needing to be at just about the opposite end of the school from their starting point. An unthinkingly easy distance during school hours, at night it was eerie and slow.

For Yukari, at least. Following closely as Minato skulked down the hallway, she took in his apparent ease with some interest. "Okay," she whispered. "I really _don't_ want to know if you were being serious about explosives… but you really do look like you've done _this_ before, Minato."

Squinting into the dimness, he shrugged minutely. "My last school was a little crazy," Minato admitted. "There was this one club that was bound and determined to find some evidence of aliens or magic or… something. The things _they_ got up to would make for a nice light novel series, though I have no idea if they ever actually found anything outright supernatural."

"And you?" Yukari pressed.

A wry, almost silent chuckle. "I wasn't with their little 'brigade', no. _My_ 'boss' was a green-haired girl who'd apparently been reared by hyenas, if her sense of humor was any indication. Our adventures were a little… weird, and occasionally intersected with the odd group." They were almost to Gekkokan's front lobby now, and he paused to scope it out.

While she waited, Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Define 'weird'."

"There's a reason I was calmer than most people would be the first night I experienced the Dark Hour," Minato answered obliquely. "If the 'brigade' never found the stuff they were looking for, they must've only just missed it. I'll tell you about it sometime." He gestured for her to follow, finally stepping out of the hall.

They were almost to the staircase to the second floor, another question on Yukari's lips, when the faint sound of footsteps not their own came toward them from somewhere ahead. In silent accord, they rushed the last few steps to the stairs, and crouched behind them; not a moment too soon, as a flashlight beam swept across their previous location.

_One of the night guards,_ Yukari thought, heart hammering so hard she thought for sure the guard would hear it. _I was afraid of that!_

For all Gekkokan's hijinks during the day, though, it looked as if the guards didn't expect trouble at night. After only a cursory glance over the lobby, the flashlight beam swept away, and the footsteps began to recede. The guard himself never even came into view.

Minato's hearing might've been better than hers, because he seemed to be listening for several seconds longer than Yukari before his back finally relaxed; the sudden slack alerted Yukari to the fact that she'd crowded a bit closer than she'd realized, and she quickly backed off a step. To her relief, he didn't seem to notice, simply rising smoothly to his feet.

"I was afraid of that," he said simply. "Remind me to look up the guard patrol routes later; I don't think we'll need to do this again, but with the way our lives are these days, I wouldn't care to place any bets."

"With the way _your_ life is, anyway," Yukari replied with a nervous chuckle. "I notice you didn't deny that you've done this before."

"Well, yeah," Minato admitted. "It wasn't exactly the guards I was worrying about last time, though. Never knew when something would-"

A ringing sound interrupted him, and Yukari stifled a screech. Instinctively ducking back behind her friend, she looked around wildly for a moment. "What the heck was-?!"

When the sound repeated itself, she noticed a vibration with it. _…Oh,_ she realized, suddenly embarrassed. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out her cell phone, hurriedly killing the text message alert.

Minato glanced back at her. "…You okay?"

"I was just startled, that's all," she grumbled, checking the phone's display. "Oh, for-! It's just spam! That figures."

"Might want to shut that off for now," he advised. "Can't really reply to anything right now anyway."

"Yeah. I should've done that earlier." Swearing under her breath, Yukari turned her cell off, tucked it back into her pocket-and realized she'd gotten closer than she thought again. Hastily backing off again, she decided to change the subject with equal alacrity. "A-anyway, let's find that key and get moving. We don't have all night."

* * *

Minutes later, with the key found -and Minato musing to himself that the Faculty Office itself really ought to be kept locked, all things considered- they regrouped with the others back in the lobby.

"No luck with the janitor's closet," Akihiko reported, looking distinctly irritated. "Too dark to see well enough, and one of the guards almost caught us. Tell me you two had better luck with the Faculty Office."

Minato held up the key. "Right here, Senpai. Borrowed the gym key, too, just in case, but I don't think we'll need it. At my old school, that was one place they didn't bother to lock up very often; just the storage room."

"And I _so_ want to know why you know that… but I'm afraid to ask." The boxer shook his head. "Another time. Okay, as usual, we don't want everybody to go in, so let's put together… a team of three, I think." He nodded to himself. "That's worked out so far. Minato, you're okay with taking the lead again, right?"

The blue-haired swordsman nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Not a problem, Senpai."

"Good. This time, I'm going, too." The look on Akihiko's face brooked no arguments. "I've been on the bench too long, and this one… I'm not sitting this one out. Time to get back in the ring. Any objections, Mitsuru?"

Mitsuru eyed him carefully. "As long as you're not planning anything reckless, that's fine. You've gotten a clean bill of health. Nonetheless…" The redhead turned her gaze to Minato. "Arisato. Keep an eye on him, will you?"

"Not a problem."

Akihiko rolled his eyes. "You trust the new guy more than you trust me, huh? …Well, fine. It doesn't really matter. Now, for the third. Yukari-"

"Wait a second!" Junpei interrupted. "Look, Senpai, I know I screwed up at the monorail. You gotta give me a chance to make up for it!"

There was a brief silence. It was the first time since the battle that Junpei had actually brought up his own actions there, and Minato was rather surprised that he admitted his mistake. At the time, even after Minato had saved him from certain death, the goateed swordsman had stubbornly insisted he had the situation completely under control.

_Of course, he's had time to think about it since then, and some distance. Sometimes it's easier to own up to being wrong when a little time's gone by. And even Junpei ought to have realized just how close he came to dying of his own recklessness there._

"Um," Yukari said uncertainly, glancing at Mitsuru for a second, "Junpei…"

"I know I messed up," Junpei repeated, looking away. "Please, just give me a chance to prove I can handle this stuff, okay?" His eyes flickered back to the brunette. "Unless you can't stand the idea of being left here with Mitsuru-senpai…?"

That did it. "No! I don't have any problem- Ugh, fine." Yukari rolled her eyes. "If you guys think that's best, then sure."

Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged a look, then turned as one to Minato, their silent question obvious.

_I'm team leader, it's my responsibility, huh? …Well, I'll admit it's heartening to hear him admit what he did wrong, but that doesn't change what happened. He's a good guy, but I just don't know that I can rely on him when the chips are down. If he lets his guts get the better of him again…_

…_**Far be it from **_**me**_** to be the one making this argument, Master,**_ Valkyrie put in reluctantly, _**but sometimes the only way to find if a warrior is worthy of trust is to extend that trust. If the opportunity is never given, you will never know if he **_**can**_** fulfill that trust; and then you never **_**will**_** be able to trust him. That will hurt the entire group, in the end.**_

_**The Norse Lady's right, Master. Hate to say it, but we gotta know. If he screws up this time, **_**then**_** you can tell him to go to hell, yeah?**_

_Point taken. Both of you._ Minato sighed internally. _Y'know what? Being leader ain't all it's cracked up to be. I miss the days when Tsu-chan handled this stuff._

"Okay," he said at length. "Akihiko-senpai, Junpei, and me." He checked his watch, noting peripherally Junpei's jubilant look. "We've got five minutes. Let's get to the gym. Senpai, Yukari?" Minato paused. "Watch yourself, okay?"

Mitsuru allowed herself a small smile. "Don't worry about us, Arisato." She tapped the rapier sheathed at her waist. "I don't expect any trouble; but if there is, we'll handle it. _You_ concentrate on finding Yamagishi."

"Mission accepted, Senpai."

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

The transition from normal time to the "Hidden Hour" was usually a gentle one. For all that the change in lighting, the shutdown of electronics, and the transmogrification of people to coffins and water to blood was disturbing, it wasn't especially jarring to the sense. The body didn't so much move as _transition_, smoothly, to a different state.

Being inside Gekkokan High School when it physically transformed into the twisted tower reaching toward the Moon, when it went from school to a pocket of Hell, was a very different experience.

Minato wasn't sure if the transition itself was different inside Tartarus' confines, or if he'd been flung into a wall and smashed his head when the architecture warped. Either way, he barely had time to notice the change in lighting before he was knocked out cold; he never even saw the shift itself, from Gekkokan to Dark Tower.

He didn't know how much "time" -such as it was in the Dark Hour- had elapsed between the transition and his coming to. All he knew was that one moment, things were changing, the next, he was flat on his back on Tartarus' floor.

And he was alone.

Minato slowly dragged himself into a sitting position, wincing at the ache in his head. _…Junpei and Akihiko-senpai aren't here,_ he thought muzzily, looking slowly around the room he found himself in. _I knew Tartarus could scatter us sometimes, when going to a new floor; should've figured entering it the way we did had a good chance of doing the same._

_Crud. Lousy timing for it._

As the ache began to slowly subside, Minato raised one hand to the transceiver he wore in his ear. "Senpai?" he said essayed. "Senpai, this is Arisato, can you here me?"

There was silence. No… worse than silence. The faint, crackling static of dead air, the white noise that signified an _absence_ of signal. Normally, it was nothing special; here, tonight, it made Minato's skin crawl, an eerie feeling coming over him.

He'd never been completely alone in Tartarus, he realized abruptly. Even on the couple of occasions the team had been scattered going to the next floor, communications at least had never been disrupted. There was always a lifeline, always some trace of human contact.

Standing up now, feeling increasingly uneasy, Minato's hand went to the hilt over his shoulder. He'd felt this kind of crawling, atavistic fear exactly once before, and to this day he wasn't sure if the previous occasion had really happened, or if it had been some kind of shared hallucination during his club's adventure. Memory of the event was hazy… which, really, made it even scarier.

_**We're not alone, Master,**_ Valkyrie said sharply, into the silence.

Minato spun, Eurydice flashing out of her scabbard-only to pause, seeing the figure standing behind him. Familiar black hair, eerie eyes, distinctive striped shirt. "Hello there," the boy said, smiling; he seemed unfazed by Minato almost slicing him in half on pure reflex. "It's good to see you."

"…Likewise," Minato said, lowering his blade. He was being perfectly sincere, even; as eerie as the boy in the striped shirt was, he was better than the oppressive, lonely silence he'd been enduring moments before. "I didn't expect to see you here, though."

"It _is_ the first time we've spoken outside your room since the night you arrived," the boy agreed. "I'm not entirely sure how, myself, but it's good, isn't it?" He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, you know. About the end. I mentioned that to you, didn't I?"

"Once or twice," Minato acknowledged, remembering their previous midnight meetings. "You never said exactly what that meant, though."

"I'm still not sure myself." The boy shrugged apologetically. "I still don't remember everything. Still, I can _feel_ things about it, and… Something about you feels different. I think… it's the opposite of that end." He smiled again. "I think you have the potential to change Fate, actually. The end doesn't feel so inevitable after all, when you're around."

"That's… good?"

_Okay, _now_ I remember why I have trouble sleeping after he shows up. All this talk about "the end" really sends chills down my spine._

"It's very good, I think," the boy told him. "But really, that's for the future. Tonight, I believe you have someone to rescue?"

"That's why we're here," Minato confirmed. "I don't suppose you know just where she is?"

"Not exactly, sorry. I'm sure she's near, though." The boy stared at him, assuming the most sober expression Minato had ever seen from him. "Be careful. The one you're looking for is very important. If you don't rescue her, I fear all will be lost."

…_Oh, crud. I don't like the sound of that.._

The boy was beginning to fade now, as he always did. "You'd better go. She's been okay so far, but you know this place as well as anyone. She might not stay that way…"

When he'd faded completely, Minato took a deep breath, centering himself. "Okay," he murmured to himself. "Important to preventing 'the end', yeah? Fine. Great. Let's move." He took a step, then paused, considering. The quiet really _was_ getting to him…

Minato slipped his headphones over his ears, inwardly grateful he'd taken the seemingly frivolous precaution of having his MP3 player modified to work in the Dark Hour, and flipped the device on. It was to the tune of _Hagane no Messiah,_ the hot-blooded music battling against the oppressive atmosphere of Tartarus, that the swordsman stalked away.

* * *

If he hadn't had his music pumping directly into his ears, Minato was fairly sure he'd have gone mad in minutes. Never before had Tartarus felt so oppressively lonely, so empty. His footsteps echoed eerily through the halls, he could hear the faint chattering of Shadows moving about, and at one point he even thought he heard the sound of dragging chains.

Mitsuru-senpai had warned him about that particular sound, once. She hadn't specified what it meant, just that if he ever did hear it, he should go in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

The journey wasn't entirely peaceful, for all its general loneliness. Minato was, in fact, just swiping the ichor from a Shadow off Eurydice when he heard crackling in his ear, bringing him up short. _"Ari… can… hear me?"_ he heard faintly.

"Senpai?" he replied, pressing one hand to his ear. "Senpai, I can barely-"

"_Having… contact… Can't reach…"_

Mitsuru-senpai's voice cut off again, leaving once again just the sound of dead air. _**Contact has been lost,**_ Valkyrie noted unnecessarily.

Minato shuddered. This was starting to feel way too much like a horror flick for his tastes. He was separated from his friends, there were monsters all around, and every attempt at communication either failed outright, or cut off in the middle.

_This reminds me _way_ too much of stories I've heard about the Bermuda Triangle. A guy could lose it here just from the atmosphere, never mind the Shadows._

Walking down yet another of the halls, hoping against hope to run into Akihiko or even Junpei, Minato had far too much time to just _think._ Or, perhaps more accurately, brood; he was conscious, suddenly, that he'd managed to turn himself into a walking cliché. A dark-eyed, black-clad swordsman stalking down the corridors of an unearthly tower, all alone and aloof.

_I'd say I felt like a _Devil May Cry_ parody or something, except I'm actually _seriously_ creeped out right now. Dante would be cracking jokes or something; I'm just trying not to lose my mind. I'll start hearing voices any second-_

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Minato froze, hearing the disembodied voice. It sounded harmless, like a teenage girl or something, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"I can sense…"

The voice trailed off, and he was alone again. Too alone.

Heart beginning to hammer, Minato picked up his pace, shifted his sword to his left hand, and drew his Evoker. If anything else turned up, he was going to burn it to a crisp before it could do anything to his mind, let alone his body.

_That's _it._ I don't care how much Kenji begs, I am _never_ watching a horror movie again! Not even if he offers to pay me for it!_

His earpiece crackled again. _"Arisato, if you… hear… ple… respond. Can't… Aki… or Iori…"_

_**Contact has been lost.**_

"Dammit!" Minato hissed, beginning to lose his cool. "What the _hell_ is going on here?!"

_**Too high up for Senpai to reach us, I think,**_ Pixie interjected. _**I think we're a **_**lot**_** higher than we've been before, Master.**_

"Crud!"

He broke into an all-out dash around the next corner, and nearly got his face smashed in for it by a vaguely humanoid Shadow with a mean right hook. Snarling in frightened anger, Minato lashed out with Eurydice, at the same time triggering his Evoker to launch a massive, uncontrolled fireball from Orpheus.

His sword missed. The fireball, by contrast, charred the Shadow to ash, along with several others he hadn't noticed, and left huge scorch marks on the walls.

"Senpai, didja see that?! Minato's gotta be here somewhere!"

"I saw it. Let's go!"

Minato was so badly rattled by now that he almost triggered another Agilao before realizing he actually recognized those voices. Instead, he struggled to regain his usual mask of total aplomb, and had mostly succeeded by the time his teammates came into view around the next corner.

"Minato!" Junpei exclaimed. "Damn, man, am I glad to see you!" He was breathing hard, and Minato didn't think it was just from the exertion. Not that he blamed him in the slightest, this time.

"Yeah," Akihiko agreed. "Not that I was really worried about you being able to take care of yourself, but it's never a good thing to get separated in here, especially with communications not working, either." He glanced around at the walls. "Wow… You must've been pretty mad, Detective. I don't think I've seen you set off that big a fire before."

"This place gives me the creeps," Minato answered, with deliberate understatement. "A bonfire seemed like a good way to lighten the mood." He holstered his Evoker now, switching Eurydice back to his dominant hand. "You haven't had any luck contacting Senpai, either?"

The boxer sighed. "I'm afraid not. We seem to be at least an entire block higher than we've been before. Mitsuru's power was starting to reach its limits as it was; I think this proves she's not going to be able to provide full support by the time we get this high normally."

_Damn. That's not good news. Going into battle without the information support Mitsuru-senpai usually provides… I don't like the sound of that._

"That's not all," Junpei put in. "I dunno about you guys, but before I met up with Akihiko-senpai, I thought I was hearing a voice a couple of times."

Minato nodded. "Me, too. A teenager, I think; a girl's voice, actually, kind of sounded like-"

"Is someone there? …Are you human?"

"Like that, actually," he finished.

The three of them turned quickly, just in time to see a head poking around the corner opposite of where Junpei and Akihiko had arrived from. Blue-gray hair, bright blue eyes -currently quite wide- and a small glimpse of a Gekkokan uniform.

The eyes that were wide with fear closed in sudden relief. "Oh, thank goodness," the girl said, coming fully around the corner. "I thought I was all alone in here!"

"Are you Fuuka Yamagishi?" Minato asked, slipping his sword into her scabbard.

She nodded. "That's right. Um…"

"Minato Arisato," he supplied, bowing. "This is Akihiko Sanada, and Junpei Iori. We came here to find you, actually. Are you all right?"

Fuuka blinked. "To find me? Um… Thank you. Yes, I'm all right; I just haven't been able to find any way out." She looked around slowly. "What _is_ this place, anyway? And how did you all get in here?"

"That's… kind of a long story," Akihiko told her; Minato noticed he looked more relaxed than he had since SEES first learned of Fuuka's disappearance. "We'll tell you everything when we're out of here."

"Yeah." Junpei grinned. "It's kinda cool, really. But what's _really_ awesome is that you're okay. You haven't met any of the Shadows?"

"Shadows?" Fuuka repeated. "Then there really _are_ monsters in here!"

Minato exchanged a look with Akihiko. "You… haven't actually seen any of them?"

She shook her head. "No. It's… it's hard to explain, but it's like I sense where they are, so I've been able to avoid them so far. I haven't dared try sleeping, but at least I've been able to keep away from… whatever they are."

_Apsaras?_ Minato snapped in his mind.

_**Yes, Master,**_ the Hindu Persona answered. _**She may not have been able to summon it yet, but the girl's Persona is very much awake and active.**_

Which meant that… Actually, Minato wasn't sure quite what that meant for the future. They still had to get back out of Tartarus, and what happened from there was completely up to Fuuka. One thing, though, _was_ pretty clear.

"Her power is the same as Mitsuru's," Akihiko murmured, voicing the deduction. "Actually, it sounds like it might be even more powerful; Mitsuru needs outside amplification to actually sense Shadows' locations…"

"Um, Senpai…?"

Akihiko shook himself. "Right. Sorry, Yamagishi. We're going to get you out of here; just stay close to us, and you'll be fine."

Fuuka nodded, relieved. "Thank you again, Senpai. Ah… How _do_ we get out of here?"

"There are certain devices we call 'access points'," Minato explained, leading the group back into motion. "They teleport you back to the first floor of the tower. The trick is finding them, and not every floor has one…"

* * *

Yukari found herself fidgeting. She didn't have a mechanical watch the way Minato did, so she wasn't sure just how much of the Dark Hour had elapsed yet, but she knew it had been some time since her friend's team had vanished.

This was one of the reasons she'd been so reluctant to be excluded from the field team this time. While there was more truth to Junpei's accusation of her antagonism toward Mitsuru-senpai than she wanted to admit, the simple fact was that she'd been afraid communications wouldn't work out this time, with the unusual entrance method.

Yukari didn't like sitting here, perfectly safe, without any clue as to how her friends were doing. _They're somewhere in the upper floors, and we can't do anything,_ she thought glumly. _We don't even know where they are, let alone how they're doing._

Mitsuru had managed fragmentary contact a couple of times, so she knew Minato had at least gotten through the transition just fine. Knowing his combat skills, he was probably still doing fine, probably killing anything that got within reach, even if he was all by himself.

The Minato Arisato she knew did things like that. Anyone who could fight on the roof of a moving train as if it were a walk in the park wasn't going to be beaten by something like this.

Even so, she didn't _know._ Nor did she know if he'd managed to meet up with the others, or if he'd managed to find Fuuka Yamagishi. Either way, Yukari couldn't actually _do_ anything now; even if she tried to teleport up to a higher floor herself, she had no way of knowing just how high up Minato's team was.

_Not that I could risk it anyway,_ Yukari thought unhappily. _In a team, I'm okay, but I'm not like Minato. I can't fight effectively by myself._

"…How do you think they're doing?" she said at length, unable to bear the silence any longer.

Mitsuru was busy monitoring her instruments, but she took the time to answer anyway. "I can't say for sure," she admitted. "It looks like we've finally reached the limits of my power. Still, what little I could hear from Arisato didn't sound panicked, and you know as well as I do how well he can handle himself. I also know Akihiko well enough to not be too worried about him." The redheaded senior sighed. "I do admit to being concerned, however. I dislike only being able to wait."

_That's one thing we've got in common, I guess._ Yukari wasn't sure how she felt about admitting that, even to herself, but it was the truth. Whatever else Mitsuru Kirijo was, she could tell that her senpai was by preference a fighter, not a back-bencher. She _could_ run support, but it was neither her real talent nor her choice.

"…Well, they're probably fine," Yukari said now, forcing herself to believe it. "We all managed at the monorail, after all."

"Yes, you did," Mitsuru agreed. "And as inconvenient as the communications situation is, tonight's operation is overall a simpler…" She trailed off, staring at her instruments. "Hm. That's odd. I'm getting a large reading…"

Yukari stood hastily. "Is it where the others are?"

"No." Mitsuru frowned. "It's _outside_ Tartarus, and… It's coming this way-!"

They both whirled to face the entrance, just as the footsteps began.

* * *

"Dammit," Junpei cursed, "there's gotta be an access point around here _somewhere._ We've never gone more than a couple floors without them before."

"Take it easy, Junpei," Akihiko advised. "We've found Yamagishi, safe and sound; the hard part is done." He cracked a smile, glancing off to their left. "At least tonight we've got a decent view. Don't see this very often."

Minato had to agree with him. One entire wall of the corridor they were walking down was open to the sky about halfway up, providing a breathtaking view of Port Island. Higher up than any normal building in the city, it gave a sobering perspective on just what was at stake.

_It looks so small from up here,_ he thought. _And yet so large, in a way you'd never notice from ground level. From here, it looks almost like toys, with the Shadows threatening to break them so very easily, if we just screw up once…_

"Hell of a view, yeah," Junpei agreed, shaking his head. "But damned spooky. And man, I never thought I was afraid of heights, but this is kinda pushing it!"

"I think so, too," Fuuka mused, peering out herself. "And the Moon… It's kind of eerie in this light. Especially so full."

Akihiko stopped in his tracks so abruptly that Junpei almost ran into him. "Senpai?" the Man in the Hat questioned. "You okay?"

"Full… moon…" the boxer said slowly. "Hey… Wasn't it a full moon the night of the monorail?"

"I think so. Why?"

Akihiko didn't seem to really hear the question. "A full moon then, and… Minato, do you remember what it looked like the night your power awakened?"

_So, someone else has finally picked up on it. Sounds like that kid was probably right, at that. The implications of _that_ are disturbing._

"It was a full moon then, too, Senpai," Minato confirmed soberly. "…I was starting to wonder the same thing."

"What the hell does it matter what the moon looks like?" Junpei demanded, looking at them both as if they'd gone crazy. "That's got nothing to do with-"

"There was an unusual Shadow the night I first used Persona, Junpei," Minato interrupted. "Like the one we fought on the monorail. On the night of the monorail itself, it was a full moon. And we already knew Personas were influenced by the phases of the moon." His gaze snapped to Akihiko. "Senpai, that probably means-"

"I know." Expression suddenly deadly serious, Akihiko brought his hand up to his ear. "Mitsuru, this is Akihiko. If you can hear me at all… Mitsuru, come in, dammit!"

_I hope we're wrong. I hope the "trial" tonight was just the communication breakdown and separation. But if it's not…_

To his own surprise, a voice suddenly crackled. _"Akihiko! There's two… like before! Powerful Shadows! If… can get down… hurry!"_

This time, communication loss was very abrupt, and very ominous.

"Dammit!" Akihiko exploded. "We've got to get down there, now!"

…_Yep. Time to go nuts again._

_**Master, you are out of our mind. You know that, right?**_

Minato paid no attention. He was already rushing to the windows, and reaching deep into his pockets. "Senpai, Junpei," he snapped, suddenly in full "Leader mode". "Get Fuuka to an access point. Meet me in the lobby PDQ!"

Junpei stared at him. "What the hell are you doing, Minato?"

The blue-haired swordsman tied one end of the rope he'd pulled out of his apparently bottomless pockets to the window railing, and quickly began forming a loop with the other. "Getting down to the lobby Pretty Damn Quick. _Don't_ try this at home."

Akihiko, too, was staring. "Do you actually know what you're doing?"

"My old club got kinda crazy sometimes, Senpai." Tossing off a quick salute, Minato vaulted over the railing, somersaulted once, and dropped out of sight.

Fuuka watched him go, eyes like saucers. "Did he actually _do_ that?!"

"He knows what he's doing," Akihiko told her, gesturing for both to get moving again. "I hope. C'mon, we don't have time to gawk! The others are in danger down there!"

* * *

With a cry of pain, Mitsuru flew through the air over her wrecked motorbike and destroyed instruments, and slammed spine-first into one of the columns supporting the lobby ceiling. Her breath was driven out of her by the impact, and she dropped limply to the floor, rapier falling from her hand.

Yukari slid across the floor not far away, bow ripped from her grip, and rolled to a stop by one wall. Her breathing labored, she didn't even manage a scream, just a strained gasp.

Plodding toward them, slow but implacable, were not one but _two_ enormous Shadows. One squat and bulky, looking vaguely like a fat queen with a scepter, the other tall and thin, resembling an anorexic king with an enormous sword. Looking for all the world like Shadow royalty, their appearances were comical.

Their strength was not.

_We couldn't even hurt them,_ Mitsuru thought, breath coming in labored gasps. _No matter what we did, nothing worked, and Penthesilea couldn't sense a thing about them!_

She'd heard, somewhere, the expression "curb-stomp battle"; something Arisato had said, she suspected. Wherever it came from, it aptly described the situation at hand, which had come to the point of her and Yukari's complete defeat in mere seconds, along with the destruction of the instruments she'd relied on for exactly this kind of battle.

For all that Mitsuru could tell, the two Shadows might well have been invincible. Whether they were or not, she could no longer fight them, and neither could Yukari.

_I hope I… got through to Akihiko. If the others don't get here soon, we're dead; and if they can't… I hope they can at least run. We can't lose the whole team here. There's still so much to do, we still have to finish this…!_

The Empress Shadow, the queen-like monster with the scepter, was approaching Mitsuru now, pulling back its weapon in preparation for what she knew would be a powerful blast of wind. She saw it coming, knew _what_ was coming, but her weapon was out of reach, and she couldn't even muster the strength to draw her Evoker-

"Get away from her, you bitch!"

The Shadow seemed just as surprised as Mitsuru, and it turned to face the unexpected voice-just as its owner came swinging into view, feet-first.

Arcing into the lobby through a side door, coat flapping from the wind of his passage, Minato Arisato rode the rope directly into the Empress' face, his momentum enough to rock even it back on its heels, finally overbalancing entirely. It toppled backward, and Arisato wasted no time; he let go of the rope, rebounded into a backward somersault, drew his sword midair and collided with the Emperor.

Eurydice was pitifully small in comparison to the Emperor's weapon, but once again momentum was on his side, pushing the enormous Shadow off-balance. As badly proportioned as it was, it, too, fell over, slamming into the floor with a loud crash.

Arisato finally hit the floor himself, landing in a roll that brought him to his feet near Mitsuru. Despite his decidedly uncharacteristic outburst, he looked entirely composed, only his accelerated breathing suggesting that this was anything other than another day at the office for him.

Yukari was watching the swordsman with outright awe, and Mitsuru wasn't sure she could blame the brunette. This was the first time she'd seen Arisato's fighting with her own eyes, other than his brief encounter the night his Persona awoke.

_Where did he even _come_ from?_ she wondered. _He didn't use the access point, so how-?_

"Are you two all right, Senpai?" Arisato asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"We're alive," Mitsuru told him, finally regaining enough breath to speak. "But, Arisato, be careful. They aren't… normal Shadows…"

"I can see that." Turning away, Arisato glared at the abominations that were already climbing back to their feet. "Stay back. Junpei and Akihiko-senpai are on their way down, with Yamagishi; I'll hold them off until then."

"No!" Yukari protested weakly. "Minato, we couldn't even scratch them! You can't-!"

"I _will."_ There was no give in Arisato's voice, nothing but steel. "Never again. _Never,"_ he said, almost too softly to be heard. "I won't lose again." Drawing his Evoker with his free hand, he stalked toward the Emperor while raising the device to his temple. "Apsaras, keep that thing busy!"

A wave of ice flowed up around the Empress' legs; at the same time, Arisato broke into a run, and leapt at the Emperor. His Persona-enhanced legs lifted him higher than mere human strength, arcing him back toward the Shadow's mask-

A wave of wind caught him from the side, the Empress' powerful Garu magic sweeping the swordsman off-course… directly into the Emperor's suddenly raised fist. Caught cleanly in the stomach by the punch, Arisato flew back, slamming hard into the wall; his sword went flying away, and his Evoker skidded toward the door.

He himself dropped, limp.

* * *

Junpei didn't know what to expect when the green flash of the access point's teleportation deposited him and his companions back in the lobby. He remembered well Minato's dramatic entrance at the monorail, and his performance against the Priestess Shadow at the end, so he was actually half-expecting to see whatever enemy was down here already dissolving into black smoke.

Instead, the smoke that caught his eye came from the destroyed motorbike and attendant instruments. Instead of collapsed Shadows, he saw Yukari and Mitsuru-senpai sprawled to one side, staring at something else in undisguised horror.

The "something else", to Junpei's shock, was Minato, lying apparently unconscious by the wall. _No way,_ he thought, stunned. _How the hell-!_

"Mitsuru!" Akihiko cried out. A look of pure rage crossed his face, and his Evoker came up in a blur "Damn you… Polydeuces!"

It was the first time Junpei saw the boxer's Persona, and he had to admit the resulting lightning bolt was pretty damned impressive. It caught the fatter Shadow from directly above, and while it shattered the ice that had been impeding the thing's movement, the bolt's energy seemed to be enough to blast it off-balance.

Junpei wasn't about to be outdone now, especially not with the guy he was starting to consider his rival already down for the count. "Hermes!" he shouted, drawing his katana with his free hand. "Burn that bastard!"

He wondered idly, as the fireball crashed into the sword-wielding Shadow's face, how Fuuka was taking all this. There hadn't been time to explain things yet, so to her, ordinary people flinging lightning bolts and blasts of fire everywhere had to be a bit much to take in.

_Heh. We probably look like superheroes or something,_ he thought, running to Yukari's side. "Hey!" he called. "What happened here?!"

"…Run," Yukari forced out, to Junpei's shock. "They even… got Minato…" She looked up at him, eyes pleading. "You can't… hurt it…! _Run!"_

_Like hell!_ "No way, Yuka-tan! Not happening!" Not giving her time to argue the point, Junpei spun to face his chosen target again. "C'mon, you son of a bitch! Come and get it!"

Having recovered from the Agi blast to the face, the Shadow -the Emperor, he realized, from the number on its mask- obliged, plodding its way over to where Junpei was waiting. Junpei, and his sword, and the gun-like device that let him unleash his true strength.

"Hermes!" he shouted again, before holstering his Evoker and gripping his katana in both hands. Taking advantage of the fire and smoke from Hermes' second Agi barrage, he charged forward intent on burying his sword in the Emperor's face.

The Emperor apparently considered this to be disrespectful to something of its station. Swatting aside the flames like mere fog, it swept the pommel of its sword into Junpei's gut, with results predictable according to the Laws of Motion.

Unlike Minato, Junpei managed to keep hold of both his sword and his consciousness, but it was a near thing when he slammed hard into the marble floor, skidding back to Yukari's side.

Akihiko landed beside him a moment later, reminding Junpei that he wasn't the only one just arriving to the fight. Or, unfortunately, just leaving. He hadn't seen much of the boxer's brief clash, but it looked like he, too, had discovered the same trick wouldn't work twice.

"Dammit," Junpei gasped. "There's… gotta be something…!" The two enormous Shadows were moving again, coming to finish them off; and for the life of him, even the ever-optimistic Junpei Iori couldn't think of what to do next. Time seemed to slow, letting him get a good luck at Yukari and Mitsuru-senpai, weaponless and breathless; Akihiko, in better shape but obviously having no idea of what to try next.

Minato, the ever-cool and controlled, duster-clad swordsman, who lay limp meters away.

Fuuka, still standing by the teleporter, eyes wide with horror, staring at something… behind them…? _Huh? What the hell-_

"Fuuka," a listless voice said, near the entrance. "Fuuka… are you there…?"

Akihiko's head snapped around. "Moriyama?!" he blurted, seeing the tanned brunette lurching into the lobby. "What the _hell_ is she doing here?!"

Even the Shadows seemed to be surprised, pausing in their advance at the interruption of the battle. Their hesitation gave Fuuka time to run past, hurrying to Natsuki's side. "Moriyama-san!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

The former bully looked up blankly, before something in her seemed to wake up. "Fuuka…? Fuuka, you're okay!" Natsuki smiled tremulously, eyes shimmering. "Fuuka, I-"

"It doesn't matter right now!" Fuuka gripped Natsuki's arm. "Moriyama-san, please, you have to get out of here!"

"But I had to come!" the other said desperately. "I had to apologize! I-!"

"Look out, dammit!"

Fuuka whipped around, only then seeing what Junpei and Akihiko already had: the Emperor was back in motion, and its sword was coming right down at her head. The warning was enough for her to duck to one side, dragging Natsuki with her, but only just.

And though the Emperor took a few moments to recover from each swing of its enormous sword, it had the Empress for backup. The fat parody of a queen was preparing to swing its scepter in a motion they were all beginning to find entirely too familiar.

Most of the time, Junpei thought of the adventures SEES had as being like an action movie. Even as bad as the monorail incident had gotten, it was still the biggest, most exciting thing to ever happen to him, and until now he wouldn't have traded those experiences for the world.

Now, watching as if in slow-motion as the Shadows prepared to K.O. yet more, these people with no way to even try to defend themselves, Junpei felt like he'd fallen into a horror movie instead, where nothing anyone tried did anything to stop the monsters.

_It can't end like this,_ he thought desperately. _There must be _something_ that we can do! There's gotta be-_

Fuuka glanced down suddenly, and bent to pick up something that her foot had touched. It was, Junpei realized after a moment, Minato's Evoker, unharmed by the blow that had knocked out its owner. It also, he realized with additional horror, something that a layman would almost certainly misunderstand.

"Wait!" Akihiko shouted, coming to the same conclusion. "Yamagishi, that's not a weapon, it's-!"

"I know."

The attack was coming fast, now, and Fuuka obviously knew it. Yet her face had turned serene, and there was no hesitation in her at all when she lifted the Evoker to her head, fingers wrapped around the grip as if she'd used one a thousand times. Even as the blast of killing wind came out, racing toward her, all she did was tighten her finger.

"_Persona."_

* * *

An answering wind roared to life, canceling out the Empress' hurricane-like Garu. In its wake, Fuuka Yamagishi was left shielded by a liquid-filled globe, topped by the torso and head of a masked woman, hair flowing gently in the competing winds.

A Persona.

Mitsuru stared in shock at the confirmation that Yamagishi was, indeed, an awakened Persona user. Without even being told, she'd instinctively understood the nature of the Evoker, and used it with even less hesitation than Arisato's original awakening of Orpheus.

Where once naught but a scared girl stood before the terrifying Shadows, a Persona user stood her ground between them and the girl who had once treated her so horribly. Her expression was determined, and unafraid, as if daring the Shadows to call her bluff.

Mitsuru, unfortunately, recognized that it _was_ only a bluff. For all that the Persona's manifestation had interrupted the Empress' attack, that had only been the effect of its summoning. Even without the amplification the destroyed instruments provided Penthesilea, Mitsuru readily understood the basic nature of that Persona.

"Yamagishi!" she shouted desperately. "Get out of there! Your Persona-it's not a combat type!"

"No!" Yamagishi answered forcefully. "Someone has to stand between them and Moriyama-san! I won't let them hurt her!"

"Mitsuru's right!" Akihiko barked, forcing himself to his knees. "Just get her and go, dammit, before you both die, too!"

"I can't just leave _you,_ either!" Yamagishi's calm was beginning to crack; given that the Emperor was preparing another swing, that wasn't exactly surprising. "You all helped me, and I-"

"You've done enough, Yamagishi."

Heads turned back to the far wall, even the Shadow hesitating again; Mitsuru noted absently that they both seemed to have difficulty with unexpected interruptions, but it was only an absent thought. Her eyes were only on the black-clad swordsman who hauled himself back to his feet, slow but steady.

Amazingly, he didn't even look bruised, despite the hits he'd taken.

Heedless of his previous injury, Arisato walked forward, rejoining his fallen comrades. He paused by Yukari's side. "Sorry, Yukari," he said quietly, bending down. "I just need to borrow this for a minute." Picking up her Evoker, he resumed his walk-straight toward the Shadows threatening Yamagishi and Moriyama.

"Don't be reckless, Arisato!" Mitsuru shouted at him, stomach clenching as she realized his intent. "Just get them out of here! That's an order!"

"Sorry, Senpai. Can't do that." His steady walk sped up now; the Shadows were back in motion, and Arisato nimbly dodged to one side of a heavy sword slash. Judging by eye the direction of the Empress' next wind assault, he dropped into a slide, skidding past… ending up right in front of Fuuka. Turning his slide into a roll, he came back to his feet, interposing himself between Fuuka and the Shadows, borrowed Evoker coming up to his temple.

"Dammit, Detective!" Akihiko exploded. "Just get the _hell_ out of here!"

"Not happening, Senpai." Arisato's voice was changing, the usual reserve cracking. "I'm not letting anyone die here." His mouth tightened, along with his trigger finger. "Orpheus, hit them!"

"They're _immune_ to fire, you-"

Mitsuru's exclamation fell on deaf ears. Arisato pulled the trigger anyway, and a burst of flame caught the Emperor in the arm just as it swung again. It couldn't hurt it, but it apparently _could_ still knock it off-balance; evidently the swordsman's intent, she realized an instant later.

It did nothing to stop the Garu spell that slammed him back into Yamagishi's Persona, almost ripping the Evoker from his grasp.

"Enough is _enough,_ Arisato!" Mitsuru cried desperately. "Get those two out of here before we_ all _die!"

"Like _hell!"_ he shouted back, rising back to his feet. He made a quick motion with his free hand, seeming to swap ephemeral cards around, before pulling the trigger again. "Pyro Jack!"

A larger fireball blazed forth, launched by what looked for all the world like a Jack-O'-lantern wearing a cape and a witch's hat; the Empress responded with yet another gust of wind, sending the flames in all directions, including Arisato's face.

If he even noticed, he gave no sign.

Mitsuru's heart was hammering now, and she wasn't sure if she was more angry or terrified by her junior's actions. He was disobeying her clear orders, he was going to die if he kept this up, none of it would _mean_ anything if they all died…

"_Please,_ Arisato! Save yourself!"

"_Not happening!"_ Arisato yelled, almost a scream this time. His eyes were different now, bearing a look Mitsuru had never seen in them before. Raw, like an open wound… "Never again! I'll _never_ look back again!" His teeth bared in a snarl, his words seemed directed at himself as much as anyone else. "This time, I'm bringing _everyone_ back out of Hades! _I won't make that mistake again!"_

Wherever it was that Arisato thought he was, Mitsuru suddenly realized that it wasn't the here-and-now. Not entirely, at least. He was having some kind of flashback, remembering something that had happened to him in the past. Something bad enough to make the normally unflappable swordsman suicidally reckless.

She had to admire his courage and determination. She almost wept at the knowledge that it wouldn't accomplish anything but his own death.

"That's it," she faintly heard a voice say. "Arisato-san, a sword! The Emperor is weak to blades now!"

Heads whipped back around to Yamagishi, who was staring fixedly at the Shadows; then at Arisato, who didn't currently _have_ a sword.

"A sword, huh? Awright, then! Minato, _catch!"_

Mitsuru turned just in time to see Iori rise to one knee, draw back his arm, and send his katana whirling across the room.

Improbably, Arisato caught the sword by the hilt, though the blade opened a gash along the edge of his hand. At the same time, he launched one more attack from his Persona. "Pyro Jack!" he shouted again, this time unleashing a wall of fire between him and the Empress, blocking a gust. Then he dropped the borrowed Evoker completely, gripped Iori's sword in both hands, and swung it up to counter the Emperor's blade.

Instead of taking full advantage of the opening, to Mitsuru's surprise, he instead flung himself forward. He slashed at the Emperor's right leg as he passed between it and the Empress, staggering it, but kept right on going. Launching himself forward into a diving roll, he snatched up something from the floor, spun upright, and brandished his sword at the Shadows.

_No,_ Mitsuru realized. _Swords, plural._ Arisato had retrieved Eurydice, and now held the lighter blade in his left hand. What might've been the actions of an amateur, brought up on too many action movies, looked perfectly natural and professional in the blue-haired swordsman, something as well-practiced as the swordsmanship he'd demonstrated that first night. _Niten-Ryu._

A form of swordsmanship advocated by the legendary Miyamoto Musashi himself, but rarely used. It was a very difficult style to master, coordinating two blades being much harder than movies or anime would have one believe.

_I should've known _he_ would know that style._

"I can see their strengths and weaknesses!" Yamagishi shouted, still over by the door, and Moriyama. "Their vulnerabilities rotate, but right now, the Emperor can only be hurt by blades!"

With his swords, Arisato's sangfroid had also returned, and now he smiled thinly. "Right now, huh?" he repeated. "Then I'll make sure it doesn't live long to rectify that mistake!"

Having discarded Yukari's Evoker, Arisato was forced to devote himself to the art of the sword. Watching him lunge forward, swinging Iori's katana at the Emperor's sword, Mitsuru strongly suspected he didn't really consider that a handicap.

"What about the Empress?" Akihiko demanded, even as Arisato slapped the Emperor's blade to one side with his own, jumped _onto_ the weapon, and leapt forward to bury Eurydice in its throat. He finished with a stylish backflip, leaving Mitsuru wondering if he was fighting or showing off.

"Lightning!" Yamagishi replied after a short pause. "I don't think it's ever weak to wind, but-"

"All I needed to hear!" As though just the knowledge he could _hurt_ the damn thing was a tonic, Akihiko came smoothly back to his feet. Sweeping his Evoker up in his left hand, his grin was feral. "Polydeuces, hit 'er again!"

Like before, the lightning bolt crashed into the Empress with a tremendous _boom,_ but this time it blasted the Shadow clear off its feet. It was joined a moment later by the Emperor, Arisato riding it down to the floor, both blades slashing in a dance of flickering, steely death.

"The Empress has changed!" Yamagishi called out. "Blunt force!"

"All _right!_ Time for the knockout!" Akihiko pushed off, hard, from the floor, launching into a jump similar to Arisato's earlier antics. His arc carried him directly over the fallen Empress, and though it tried one more blast of wind, Akihiko Sanada's fist was far faster, crashing into its distended gut like a freight train.

He wasn't _captain_ of the boxing team for nothing. In the ring, he was nigh-unbeatable; backed by Persona, the Empress was struck with the wrath of an angry god, and with a squeal it began disintegrating into greasy black smoke even before Akihiko rolled off it.

To the side, the Emperor had, somehow, gotten back to its feet, and was swinging its sword much faster now. Arisato, though, didn't seem inclined to give it another chance to hurt him, and was dancing around it, blades licking in and out with lightning speed and incredible precision. Whatever flashback had driven him to such lengths, it was driving him now to destroy his foe with extreme prejudice.

It almost wasn't enough, though. "Arisato-san, hurry! The Emperor is about to change!"

He grunted in acknowledgement, but almost didn't make it anyway; the Emperor's sword swung down to block his just before he could deliver what he thought was a killing blow. It started to glow faintly, presumably heralding a change to some other weakness-

A sword point emerged from its gut, right in front of Arisato. The Emperor stood stock-still; then its sword dropped to the floor with a tremendous clatter, dissolving even as it bounced. A moment later the Shadow itself began emitting black smoke, starting around the steel tip protruding from its stomach, and followed its brethren into greasy, misty death.

Standing opposite of Arisato, still battered, bruised, and mostly out of breath, Mitsuru swept her rapier up in a fencer's salute to the Niten-Ryu specialist, and sheathed it with a flourish.

* * *

Author's Note:

* * *

A little over two months between chapters; I'm making progress! Hopefully this one was a little better than the last, which I suspect was a bit too large with just a smidgen too little to "grab" the reader's attention. I'm still working on spicing things up, though, and this one was written with only slight consultation of the actual game script (and that mostly to get a feel for the Shadows' attack patterns; and in the end, I had to rely on the movie for that, anyway).

Not much to say, at this point. Slight commentary on the movie, having seen it now: interesting, and one _hell_ of a lot better than the farce the _Persona 4_ anime turned out to be, but, not without its flaws. In particular, I don't really care for "Makato Yuuki's" personality, so while you can expect to see a few movie influences in this fic, that won't really be one of them.

Apologies for not having replied to any reviews from the previous chapter yet; I'll be taking care of a few of those just as soon as this chapter is posted.

EDIT: Seem to be having some formatting issues; in particular, there is supposed to be a scene break just after Fuuka first summons her Persona. Just in case anyone is wondering about the sudden change in address by the narration re: Minato.

Finally, though this is unfortunately several months late -I actually intended to say this with the previous chapter, but events caused it to slip my mind- I must dedicate this chapter to one of our fallen brethren. I never spoke to him myself, but I was very much a fan of his work, and I truly mourn his loss. My comrades, when you read this, please spare at least a moment of silence for **Durandall,** author of, among other stories, _Kyon: Big Damn Hero._ Like many others, I will never forget his contribution to the world of fan fiction.

…Seems to be about everything. I'll try to get Chapter VII up even faster; in the meantime, I rest my pen. _-Solid Shark_


	7. Chapter VII: End of Spring

Monday, June 8th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

"No! Someone has to stand between them and Moriyama-san! I won't let them hurt her!"

_That voice… Those words… I've heard something like that before…_

"Mitsuru's right! Just get her and go, dammit, before you both die, too!"

"I can't just leave _you,_ either!"

…_Yes. Just like that time… Isn't it? …No. Not quite. This time, the voice isn't alone. There's someone to answer the cry. _I'm_… still here._

The pain that wracked Minato's body hadn't quite faded yet, but he stood anyway, forcing himself back to his feet, even as Fuuka Yamagishi finished with, "You all helped _me,_ and I-!"

"You've done enough, Yamagishi," he told her, forcefully keeping the pain out of his voice. The last of the ache from being punched across the room was fading now, allowing him to begin the walk across Tartarus' foyer unhindered.

The way the scene before him wavered, seeming to flicker briefly to the view of a warehouse, was slightly distracting. Not enough to stop him, though. Not this time.

Striding over to Yukari and Mitsuru, still lying where he'd last seen them before his lights got punched out, Minato took a moment to take in what he'd missed in his short time in dreamland. At some point, Junpei and Akihiko had made it to the foyer, and apparently gotten cold-cocked almost as badly as he had. Unfortunately, he wasn't terribly surprised.

Natsuki Moriyama's presence _was_ unexpected, and he knew it was all too likely to get the poor girl killed. But then, that was what _he_ was here for, wasn't it?

When he reached his comrades, he paused by Yukari. "Sorry, Yukari," he said, briefly kneeling by her. "I just need to borrow this for a moment." Taking a moment to smile reassuringly, he picked up her Evoker, and resumed walking toward the Shadows, and their intended victims.

"Don't be reckless, Arisato!" he heard Mitsuru yell at him. "Just get them out of here! That's an order!"

"Sorry, Senpai. Can't do that." Minato's vision blurred again, and for an instant it wasn't Tartarus at all that he saw, and it wasn't SEES lying on the floor around him. It was- It was gone, and he was approaching the Shadows again. Something inside him had recognized what was happening next, driving him to pick up the pace.

That same instinct led him to duck to one side, the Emperor's enormous sword crashing into the floor less than a meter from him. He ignored it, knowing he'd be past before it could swing again, and all his senses strained to predict where the wind would come from as the Empress swung its scepter at him again.

He'd learned from the gust that got him gut-punched, and with precise timing he turned his dash into a slide, skidding beneath the Garu winds. He slid several meters on his back, and then he was in front of Fuuka's newly-manifested Persona, using his remaining momentum to twist and spin upright. Standing directly before the girl, he turned to face the Shadows, bringing Yukari's Evoker up to his right temple.

"Dammit, Detective!" Akihiko shouted at him. "Just get the _hell_ out of here!"

"Not happening, Senpai." For a second, it wasn't Akihiko he heard, but an older voice; instead of the boxer, he saw an older man with dark hair and a five o'clock shadow. Instead of just bruises, there was blood all around. "I'm not letting anyone die here," Minato continued, struggling to focus on the here-and-now. "Orpheus," he snarled, even as the Emperor began to swing at him, "hit them!"

"They're _immune_ to fire, you-!"

He ignored Mitsuru's words, pulling the trigger anyway. He already knew; that wasn't the object of the exercise. What _was_, was to hit the enormous Shadow in the sword arm, deflecting its aim with pure kinetic force, and that part actually worked. Though no trace of burn appeared on it, the impact forced its sword wide, slamming harmlessly into the floor.

Minato had failed to account for the Empress this time, though, and a wall of wind slammed him backwards into Fuuka's Persona. He kept his wits this time, but almost lost the Evoker.

"Enough is _enough,_ Arisato!" The desperation in Mitsuru's voice made him waver again, and suddenly it wasn't even _her_ voice that he was hearing. "Get those two out of here before we _all_ die!"

_Saya!_ "Like _hell!"_ he snarled, lunging upright. _No. Not her. Not this time!_ Focusing his mind, he summoned the cards that represented his inner self, switching Orpheus to the back of the deck and moving another to the front. "Pyro Jack!" he called out, summoning stronger flames than Orpheus could yet give him.

The animate Jack-O'-lantern didn't disappoint, launching from its lamp a fireball closer to what he'd accidentally unleashed on the monorail than anything Orpheus could give him consciously. It flew straight for the Empress' face-only to be countered with a Garula spell of equal power, scattering the flames in all directions.

Heat tore at Minato's face, some of the fire almost getting right in his eyes, but he merely blinked it away, trusting the same regenerative ability that had revived him from unconsciousness to deal with any aftereffects. The pain was insignificant; the fires that time hadn't stopped him, they wouldn't this time-

Or was it this time? Had he gone back to that place, to the blood, to the-

"_Please,_ Arisato! Save yourself!"

"_It's too late, Kyousuke! Run, please, or else… or else I might…!"_

Blood. Smoke. A broken sword in his left hand, an uncanny, demonic katana in his right. Before his eyes, _her,_ on the floor, black and red school uniform tinged with darker colors, long black hair stained red, her _eyes_ gone strange-

"_Not happening!"_ Minato screamed, warehouse and Tartarus melding into one in his eyes. "Never again! I'll _never_ look back again!" His teeth were bared, his words more a self-recrimination than a denial. "This time, I'm bringing _everyone_ back out of Hades! _I won't make that mistake again!"_

Fire consuming the building. Bodies all around, far more of them dead than alive. The one he'd come to save, lying there before him, plunged into her heart a blade held by-

_I can't let that happen again. Never! _Never!_ I'll protect them this time!_

"That's it! Arisato-san, a sword! The Emperor is weak to blades now!"

Fuuka Yamagishi's voice dragged Minato's awareness back to the present, his eyes snapping into proper focus for the first time since he'd woken. Her voice was demanding, insistent, filling not just his ears but his mind with the resonant power of Persona.

His eyes snapped to the Emperor, and his free hand tightened into a fist. This was real, this was now, and this was an enemy he could fight, and kill. Except that he didn't happen to _have_ a sword right now, Eurydice was still lying on the other side of the room, and the Shadows were squarely between him and her.

But he'd forgotten. He wasn't alone this time, and he wasn't the only swordsman on hand.

"A sword, huh? Awright, then! Minato, _catch!"_

Minato turned his head just in time to see Junpei fling his katana in a whirling arc across the room, a wheel of spinning steel. It flew right past the Shadows, and Minato's hand came up at precisely the right moment to catch it by the hilt.

Well, almost precisely. The sword's keen blade caught on the edge of his hand, opening a frighteningly clean slice, but as far as Minato was concerned, that wasn't even worth worrying about.

He had a sword in his hand again. That was what mattered. And as if that old voice was whispering in his ear, he realized what it was that he should do now. He'd been running from it for a long time, but now was the time.

"Pyro Jack!" Minato shouted again, summoning the pumpkin-Persona to fling a Maragi spell in a curtain of fire between him and the Shadows. As he'd intended, it both shortstopped another Garu, and momentarily blinded both Shadows.

Dropping the Evoker, he switched to a two-handed grip on the katana, and swung it up to catch the next blind slash from the Emperor. What would've been an insane maneuver with a normal katana, undoubtedly sufficient to break such a weapon in two, came out as a very successful parry, forcing the larger blade off to one side.

Not wasting the opening, Minato lunged into a dash. Aiming between the two Shadows, he slashed the Emperor low in the right leg on his way by, a blow that would've hamstrung another with a normal anatomy and did, at least, stagger the abomination. Enough to get him well past, and give him time to dive toward his actual objective.

His left hand closed on polished wood as he entered a roll. When he came back up, whirling to face the Shadows, Eurydice was once again in her proper place in his grip.

"_Niten-Ryu,"_ Kyousuke remembered, brandishing the weapons in a stance that took him back to a time before he was "Minato". _"That's always been your greatest strength, hasn't it? Even I have trouble when you use your family's style, Kyousuke."_

"_I have to keep up somehow,"_ he'd replied._ "Your Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, I just can't keep up with otherwise."_

He remembered, again, the broken sword and the demonic one, held in a stance so similar to the one he now threatened the Shadows with. He remembered… and he also saw the truth around him. The comrades who were still alive.

The friends that, this time, he _would_ save, with the same style he'd last used that horrible day.

"I can see their strengths and weaknesses!" Fuuka called out, breaking Minato's reverie. "Their vulnerabilities rotate, but right now, the Emperor can only be hurt by blades!"

"Right now, huh?" Minato's face creased with a smile, razor-edged and directly straight at his enemies. "Then I'll make sure it doesn't live long enough to rectify that mistake!"

"_Soku. Ryu. Geki,"_ he heard in his mind. _"Speed, flow, strike. Hit them fast, Kyousuke, hit them often, and hit them _hard._ That is the essence of Shirogane Niten-Ryu."_

"What about the Empress?" he heard Akihiko ask. He paid little attention; as far as he was concerned, the Emperor was his prey now, the royal Shadow trying yet again to cut him in half. He was having none of it, and his response was to once again hit its heavy sword with Junpei's katana, using all the strength in those muscles.

When the sword struck the floor, Minato wasted no time, running forward and _onto_ the blade, bouncing up and forward to bury Eurydice in what passed for the Emperor's throat, before flipping backward and onto level ground.

"Lightning!" Fuuka now informed his senpai. "I don't think it's ever weak to wind, but-"

"All I needed to hear!"

Minato didn't really have time to keep track of Akihiko's assault. He could barely spare a moment to reflect that it was no wonder poor Yukari hadn't had any luck against it, and then he had to devote his full attention to the Emperor.

He didn't know if it had simply taken a while for it to build up steam, or if it was getting mad, but the Emperor suddenly began moving much faster than it had before. There was no parrying its next cleaving blow, only dodging; but dodging was very much a part of his Niten-Ryu, avoiding being hit at all was what he'd been taught was always the best defense.

"_Armor breaks,"_ his grandfather had told him, in one of their many sessions in the dojo. _"Swords, the katana in particular, do not suffer heavy blows well. If you don't want to find yourself suddenly deprived of both offense_ and_ defense, never block or even parry when you can avoid the blow entirely. Your body should be as much your weapon as your swords."_

Twisting to one side, Minato winced as the blade came within centimeters of giving him the world's worst haircut, but kept going. Tensing his legs, drawing on the extra physical strength Persona gave him, he leapt into the air at the same moment that Akihiko summoned a lightning bolt onto the Empress' head. The prodigious jump brought his blades on level with the Emperor's chest, allowing him to unleash a flurry of powerful slashes, right blade-left blade-right blade in a kind of eerie, lethal dance.

The series of attacks deprived it of its balance, and Minato rode it clear down to the floor, before leaping away to avoid being squashed by the falling Empress.

It was only a small delay, caused by him jumping farther than he meant to -the distraction provided by the Empress disintegrating probably didn't help- yet it was enough. To Minato's surprise, the Emperor rose back to its feet like it was levitating -_Hell, knowing Shadows, maybe it _is- and swung again, faster yet.

He danced to one side in response, parried carefully with the katana, ducked between its legs to slap it with Eurydice, ducked out, repeated.

The next few seconds were a blur of trained instinct. As fast as the Emperor had become, Minato's Niten-Ryu, and his lighter body, were simply faster, turning him into a whirlwind of steel. The Shadow was much bigger than he, but then humans were bigger than wolverines…

"Arisato-san, hurry! The Emperor is about to change!"

_Crud!_ Minato grunted an acknowledgement, and drove forward to try and deliver a pair of crossed slashes-but miscalculated this time, just slightly. The Emperor's enormous greatsword crashed down in his path, almost cutting him in two.

Then, as Fuuka had warned, it began to glow, presumably heralding a change in its weakness. _Crud!_ If it changed away from blades, he was stuck; he had no Evoker, and while he was competent with his bare hands, he was neither Akihiko-senpai nor armed with the latter's reinforced gloves. He was-

He was not alone. Not anymore.

A slender sword punched through the Emperor's gut from behind, driven by muscles fully as strong as Minato's own. Pierced with the last of the proverbial thousand cuts, the abomination began dissolving, turning inky black.

Solidity turned to smoke, revealing on the other side Mitsuru-senpai, standing in a textbook-perfect thrusting posture. Battered, bruised, still gasping for breath, she recovered, swept her rapier up in a respectful salute, and sheathed the blade with a flourish.

* * *

Arisato's eyes met Mitsuru's, and after a moment he nodded respectfully in return. "Soku, ryu, geki," she heard him mutter under his breath, before giving his swords a ritual-like spin. Swapping them around, he sheathed Eurydice in the scabbard over his shoulder, then turned to Iori.

"Don't even think it, dude," Iori told him, shaking his head with a small grin. "This first." He tossed over his katana's scabbard, which Arisato caught, smoothly slipped the blade into, and threw back to the goateed student.

Only then did Yamagishi allow her Persona to dissipate, and she sank to her knees. "Please tell me there aren't more of them?" she managed, visibly exhausted.

Akihiko, standing from where he'd pile-drivered the Empress into oblivion, gave a reassuring smile. "There's nothing to worry about, Yamagishi. It's over."

She sagged in obvious relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Behind her, Moriyama was swaying. She no longer bore the look of a sleepwalker, but she was clearly exhausted-and just as clearly intensely relieved. "Fuuka," she said, eyes watering. "Fuuka, you're okay."

Yamagishi turned quickly. "I'm just fine, Moriyama-san," she assured the former bully hurriedly. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Y-yeah." Moriyama managed a smile. "I'm not sure what just happened, but… I'm just glad _you're_ okay, Fuuka. I was so worried…"

_That's quite the turnaround,_ Mitsuru mused. _Perhaps Gekkokan will see a decrease in bullying from now on. Moriyama seems to have been one of the ringleaders, and I don't think she'll be quite so cavalier about it in the future._

_**Not now that she knows the potential consequences,**_ Penthesilea agreed softly.

Perhaps finally able to let go of whatever strength had kept her going in Tartarus for so long, Yamagishi chose that moment to quietly fall over to one side, thoroughly unconscious.

"It's all right," Mitsuru said quickly, before Moriyama could panic. "She's just exhausted." She looked over at Akihiko. "Frankly, I'm amazed she kept going as long as she did. Ten straight hours in Tartarus, dodging Shadows… I don't think any of _us_ could've done it."

"Yeah, no kidding." The boxer shook his head. "So where the hell did those Shadows come from, Mitsuru? We've never seen them in the entrance before."

She grimaced. "From outside Tartarus, just like before. Beyond that, I have no idea."

"I was afraid of that."

Mitsuru didn't disagree. Counting the Shadow that Arisato had so adroitly shredded just a couple of nights after his arrival, this made three separate incidents and four individual Shadows of previously unseen power appearing outside of Tartarus itself.

_And over the course of only two months. I don't like the implications of this, not at all. The situation is getting worse. And…_ She looked back over at Arisato. At his hand, which already had a scab forming over the gash he'd taken catching Iori's sword. His face, which had several nicks and cuts of unclear origin… which were also visibly beginning to close.

_There's something different about him. It's not just his ability to summon multiple Personas; Arisato almost seems to be on a completely different level from the rest of us. His swordsmanship, his oddly quick healing even with Persona skills being used. And the way he was behaving during the battle there._

_**We have seen PTSD before,**_ Penthesilea noted quietly. _**I cannot read him very well, but it seems plain he was having flashbacks during the battle.**_

Mitsuru couldn't dispute her Persona's analysis. She had some personal experience with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Arisato had been displaying distinct signs of it. If she was right, he wasn't even sure of where he was during some of that.

"We may have a problem, Senpai," Yukari said, breaking into her thoughts. "What do we do about Natsuki? She's seen the Dark Hour, now, _and_ Persona."

"Don't worry about it," Akihiko said, before Mitsuru could respond. "She's not a Persona user. Come morning, she won't remember a thing." He glanced about at their various bruises and cuts, the only remaining evidence of what had just happened. "Probably a blessing, really."

"I guess so…" Yukari looked a little sad, at that. "It doesn't seem fair, though. She won't even remember what Fuuka did for her."

"I wouldn't worry about that, either," Mitsuru told her, smiling just a little. "I think she's learned her lesson."

Indeed, Moriyama was now cradling the unconscious Yamagishi in her lap, sobbing openly. "I'm sorry, Fuuka," she was saying, over and over. "I'm so, so _sorry…"_

"Actually," Mitsuru went on, "I suspect that, even if she doesn't remember the events specifically, she'll remember the feeling." She nodded, overall very satisfied with the night's operation. "Come on. The Dark Hour is going to end soon, so let's get going. We'll take Moriyama and Yamagishi back to the dorm for the night, and get Yamagishi checked over by the hospital in the morning.

"Good work, everyone. _Very_ well done, all of you."

* * *

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009, Very Early Morning

* * *

Yukari was helping Moriyama along, the latter seeming half asleep and very disoriented now that the Dark Hour was over, and Iori was carrying Yamagishi on his back. Akihiko was -sort of- keeping an eye on their surroundings, looking very pleased with himself now that the operation was actually successful; Mitsuru figured she knew why, though she'd never say so to him.

That left her walking beside their field leader, who as usual had his hands in his pockets, duster billowing gently in his wake. He still looked a little haggard, but the bleeding psychic wounds were apparently closed once more.

"…Arisato, can we talk?" she said at length.

"Sure, Senpai. What's up?"

That was, she admitted, one thing she found comfortable about Arisato. Even when half-dead on his feet, he was unfailingly polite. "Back there," Mitsuru began. "Your swordsmanship… It has me kind of wondering why Miyamoto gives you any trouble at all on the Kendo Team. With the skills you used at the end there…"

Arisato smiled faintly, shaking his head. "My Kendo Team exploits are still the dorm reality show, I see… Well, Senpai, the fact is there are several reasons for that." His right hand came out of his pocket, and he began ticking off points. "First, as I think I may have said before, I'm not used to tournament rules, so I make mistakes Kaz wouldn't. Second, Niten-Ryu isn't actually tournament-legal, usually. And third…" He sobered, eyes taking on a faraway look again. "I haven't used Niten-Ryu in two years. The last time I did, people died. Some of them didn't deserve it."

…_I thought it might be something like that. The shoulder wound, his skill the very first time he fought Shadows, and tonight's PTSD episode… Arisato, what _happened_ to you? What battle were you fighting in your mind, instead of the Shadows?_

"Well," Mitsuru said at last, "I'm glad you used it anyway. You saved us all, tonight."

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I didn't have much of a choice, did I? My usual style wasn't going to cut it this time." Arisato reached up and, heedless of the fact that it was no longer the Dark Hour, drew Eurydice. "Actually," he went on, studying the blade, "I've studied three different styles. I've been using a modified form of a basic kodachi school with Eurydice; works as well as it does primarily because I haven't been fighting other swordsmen. I was taught the basics as part of the groundwork of my specialty, but I've only been working on it seriously for about two years.

"In Kendo Team, I go with a mix of the school's standard kendo, and a little bit of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu I picked up over the years."

She lifted an eyebrow at that. "That's not a common style," she remarked, surprised. "I was under the impression that there were only a couple of masters left who teach it."

"I had a friend who specialized in it," Arisato admitted, a pained look crossing his face. "I'm actually pretty lousy at it, myself. I'm pretty good with normal kenjutsu, but Niten-Ryu was actually my specialty, back then."

"Which is, in its own way, an even _more_ specialized school," Mitsuru pointed out.

"My friend was _much_ better with a blade than I was, Senpai," he said bluntly. "Far better back then, better even than what I can do now. I couldn't hope to keep up with Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu with ordinary kenjutsu; only with my family's Niten-Ryu was I even close to being in the same class."

"Well, Detective," Akihiko called, sidling over to them, "I'd say you're good enough for us. Damn good job you did on that Emperor."

Arisato's response actually surprised Mitsuru. "Main problem was that I was in a hurry. Selective invincibility aside, Senpai, that was _not_ the most dangerous thing I've ever had to kill."

Akihiko stared at him. "There's _worse?"_ he said, clearly not taking the swordsman seriously. "C'mon, Detective, pull the other one. Mitsuru and I have been doing this for years, and we've never encountered anything close to that bad before these last couple of months."

The bluenette smiled, the expression looking more sad than anything else; his eyes were still focused on his sword. "There are more things in this world that go bump in the night than just Shadows, Senpai. I've seen some scary stuff in my time."

"…Like _what?"_

Mitsuru was glad the dorm was coming into view by the time Arisato responded. A comfortingly familiar site, promising safe rest, to counter the response he gave with a perfectly straight face, utter sincerity, and a sense of deep regret.

"Demons, Senpai. Demons and vampires and wraiths, oh my…"

* * *

By the time Minato got back to his room, at the end of that very long day, he was about ready to go into a coma for a while. Certainly he'd have no trouble sleeping through the night; he didn't think he was even going to have the nightmares the operation by rights should've conjured up.

Even so, he wasn't quite able to bring himself to settle in right away. Like the aftermath of the monorail Full Moon operation, Minato felt that there was something distinctly _different_ about himself. He still wasn't sure what, or why, but this time, he could quantify some of the effects. Most notably, both the slash he'd gotten from Junpei's sword and the cuts he'd inflicted on himself with his rusty, never-quite-perfected Niten-Ryu had already almost completely healed.

More than that, he knew damn well he'd broken at least three ribs when the Emperor punched him, and his kidneys hadn't been feeling too good, either. They still ached even now, but they were nowhere near as bad as they should've been.

Minato knew that he healed faster and better than any other person he'd ever known. The gunshot wound he'd taken years earlier should by rights have had him out of action for months, most likely with permanent loss of function. Instead, he'd been "walking wounded" within a couple of weeks, and inside two months all that remained was a scar. Similarly, ordinary cuts and bruises never lasted long for him.

Healing from a deep gash to the hand in a couple of hours was new, and a little unnerving. Especially since he could correlate the gradual improvement to his healing with the Full Moon operations. _I know correlation doesn't equal causation, but this is a little too precise in timing to be coincidence. Plus the feeling of… something… when those Shadows died._

_**And your sight, right, Master?**_

_That too, Valkyrie. Very much that too._

Again, Minato drew Eurydice and focused intently on it. At first, all he saw was the sword, as normal, but as his concentration increased, it suddenly seemed as if he were looking through a microscope, with a computer database linked to his brain analyzing the results. Her atomic structure, flaws in her forging, potential weak spots and fracture points. When looking at the hilt, he could tell, with unshakeable certainty, what sort of wood was used, and what coatings it had been finished with.

He didn't know how he could see all that. It didn't make any sense, but it was fact. It was also, potentially, a great asset to him, as a detective and as a warrior. If the ability wasn't limited to the sword -and he had no reason to think it was- he could think of a dozen different combat and investigative uses right off the top of his head.

For example, he'd already discovered that Eurydice was made of the same metal as Junpei's Kirijo-made katana, rather than the steel he'd always assumed. That said interesting things about his father's sources, which by itself was something worth looking into sometime.

_**I suggest you worry about all this later, Master,**_ Pixie advised him gently. _**You need sleep, and it seems likely the next major trial will not be until the next Full Moon. Besides, the last thing you need is to be thinking too much, right now.**_

Minato had to concede that point. He was still dealing with the aftereffects of the PTSD episode that battle had triggered; the last thing, indeed, that he needed was to dwell on that warehouse, or much of anything else to do with his final weeks in Inaba.

_Hell with it,_ he decided at last. _I'm going to sleep. And I'm taking a few days off from worrying about the supernatural. …Although I think I'll call Naoto tomorrow. I need some technical assistance…_

* * *

Early Morning

* * *

After the sheer chaos of the last couple weeks, the Yamagishi Case mixed together with the terror of exams, Minato found the walk to school with no prospect of sleuthing or interrogations refreshing. Sometimes boring was good. This was one of the times boring was _very_ good.

_Hell, I'd almost like one of Mister Ekoda's lectures right now. …Almost._

"Hey, Minato," Yukari greeted, trotting up to match his pace. "…Did you sleep okay? Last night, you were…"

"I'm okay," he assured her, unsurprised that she'd gotten the subtext of his little breakdown during the operation. "A good night's sleep did wonders. Right now, I'm actually looking forward to just a boring, regular day of school."

She chuckled. "Yeah, me too. But still…" Yukari hesitated, glancing around to make sure no other students were too close. "I was wondering about something. Do you think… do you think Mitsuru-senpai had us rescue Fuuka for the right reasons? I mean…"

Minato lifted an eyebrow. "Well, I'm fairly sure Akihiko-senpai would've gone and done something himself either way, so expediency _was_ probably part of it. I think she wanted to do it anyway, though." He tilted his head. "Why, do you think there was something else going on there?"

Yukari was silent for a time, as they neared the Gekkokan gate. She seemed reluctant to speak her mind, something he found mildly odd coming from the girl who was entirely willing to try and break Junpei's foot when he got out of line.

_And for that matter, it's not like it's a secret between us that she has… issues with Senpai. Why hold back now?_

She seemed to come to a decision. "It's just…" Yukari sighed. "Look, Minato, we only even started the investigation after the hospital realized Fuuka was a potential Persona user. If it hadn't been for that, we might never have even realized she was missing. So… how can we be sure Mitsuru-senpai didn't have us rescue her just _because_ of her power as a Persona user? Because she thinks we need that power?"

His instinct was to immediately deny the assertion. Minato personally thought Yukari was a bit paranoid where Mitsuru was concerned, for reasons he still wasn't clear on. Even so… He couldn't deny the impetus behind his investigation, and he had to admit that he, himself, had been a little skeptical of the rescue plan at first.

Still… "I don't think it's like that," he said at length. "Remember, Akihiko-senpai said early on that Fuuka was very likely not physically up to joining the team. Junpei, if you'll recall, didn't take that well… Actually, I seem to remember they weren't even quite sure she _was_ a Persona user; sure as hell they didn't expect what she actually proved to be capable of." Minato shook his head, remembering Fuuka's unexpected display of both power and raw courage. "Fact is, I can't see Senpai having gone to such lengths for 'practical' reasons, not when the chance was so slim."

"Mm…" Yukari's expression was distinctly unconvinced, but after a few moments she simply shrugged. "I hope you're right, Minato. Either way, whether she actually joins SEES is completely up to her, so I guess we'll see then. Sorry for making a fuss."

"Not a problem. We're living a very strange life right now."

_One of these days, though, I really do want to know why on earth you're so quick to think the worst of Senpai, Yukari. I know she gives off kind of the unapproachable Ice Queen ojou-sama vibe, but it feels like it's a lot more personal for you._

* * *

Evening

* * *

"Yo," was the first sound Minato heard when he got back to the dorm that evening, from a grinning Junpei. The Man in the Hat was sprawled on one of the lounge couches, playing a portable game. "No Tartarus tonight, man. Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai are both at the hospital, checking on Fuuka."

"Not that I _want_ to go to Tartarus tonight," Yukari put in from the dining room. "I don't know about you two, but I'm still exhausted from last night."

"Don't worry, I don't have a death wish," Minato assured them, heading for the stairs. "I don't intend to take us back there for a few more days at the least. Besides, I've got to wait for some things to come in the mail."

Junpei looked up from his game. "Yeah? Like what?" He paused. "Actually, I'm not sure I wanna know. Last time it was that coat… You know you look kinda scary in that thing, don't you?"

The swordsman chuckled. "Oh, you'll see… In the meantime, I've got a phone call to make -best not to miss a check-in with my sister- and then I'm going to scare up some dinner. See you guys in a bit."

He swept up the stairs and out of sight, leaving his classmates behind. "…I think the coat's pretty cool, actually," Yukari said under her breath. She made sure to keep it quiet enough for Junpei not to hear, though; she'd seen the way Junpei had reacted to it the night of the monorail operation.

_Actually,_ she thought, _Stupei's been like that a lot over the last month or so. He didn't like it when Minato was chosen to lead the team in the first place, and what happened on the monorail… Junpei had a lot of gall acting like he did there._

To Junpei's credit, he'd done better in the Tartarus explorations since, and he'd apparently toed the line during this past operation, but Yukari still thought he was in no position to be posturing. Minato had demonstrated a cool head under pressure, and decisive leadership, neither of which Junpei had shown any particular sign of.

_On top of that, Junpei treats his sword more like a baseball bat. Minato's actually a real, live swordsman, no posturing involved._

That part, Yukari found genuinely cool, for want of a better word. In an age where tightly-coordinated units of soldiers fought as pieces of a well-oiled machine, armed with guns and riding tanks and fighter jets, Minato Arisato was unabashedly a warrior, a genuine master swordsman straight out of a more romantic age.

_Well,_ she forced herself to admit, _a more romantic view of an older age, I guess. The Samurai weren't really what all the stories would have you believe. The technology was different, but the reality wasn't, not really._

Of course, that really just made Minato all the more impressive. He was representative of an ideal she'd always thought _only_ existed in stories.

…_Not that it was all fun and games,_ Yukari thought with a wince, remembering the end of the previous night's events. _Whatever he might be now, Minato must've gone through hell to get as good as he has. I guess even best-case, you don't get heroes without pain._

"Y'know what," Junpei said suddenly, distracting her from the downward turn her thoughts had taken, "I didn't actually know Minato _had_ a sister. Did you?"

Yukari twitched, forcing herself back to the present. "Actually, yeah, he mentioned her to me once before; and I saw some of the background information Mitsuru-senpai has on him." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, though, he doesn't talk about her much, does he?"

"Hell, I wasn't sure he _had_ family." Junpei sat up so that he could look at her. "Come to think of it, who the heck _is_ he, anyway? He ever talk about himself when I'm not around?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I know he was orphaned ten years ago, and he and his sister were brought up mostly by their grandfather. Mitsuru-senpai says he's moved around a lot, too. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. Come to think of it," she went on, "I don't actually know his sister's _name."_

"Huh. How about that. …Maybe he's really from a Yakuza family, and he's on the run from another group's enforcers!" Junpei paused, considering that. "…Actually, we probably would've heard about that on the news. Dude doesn't seem the type to run if he has a sword handy." He shook himself. "Ah, forget it. Really, I'm more excited that we'll be getting another girl around here soon!"

Yukari sighed. _And that's another issue. I know what Minato said, but really, I can't accept it that easily. Mitsuru-senpai doesn't seem to do _anything_ that isn't related to getting a handle on the Shadow situation. That's important and all, but she'd better remember that we're all people, too, not just weapons._

"Don't just assume she'll be joining us, Junpei," she said aloud. "She might say no, y'know, and I wouldn't really blame her."

"Feh! Who'd pass on this? We're like superheroes, Yuka-tan! It's way more awesome than just a normal day at school!"

Yukari didn't even bother replying. As impressed as she was with Minato's performance -and his entrance the previous night had been just about as impressive as what he'd done on the monorail- everything else that had happened had reminded her quite firmly that they weren't playing games.

If Junpei hadn't learned the lesson then, she didn't think mere words would get the point across.

* * *

Minato wasn't too surprised when only a couple of rings echoed in his ear before the distinctive click of a phone being answered came through. _"You have good timing for once, Nii-san,"_ he heard, the other's voice just a tad stern. _"I was just studying… Never mind."_ The voice softened. _"It's good to hear from you, Nii-san."_

"Likewise, Naoto." He smiled, leaning back in his desk chair. "Everything okay on your end? Grandfather is behaving himself, I would hope? He's not exactly young."

Naoto snorted. _"You know as well as I do, Kyousuke, that Grandpa is likely to outlive both of us, and probably _our_ grandchildren. As a matter of fact, he's currently on a case in Kyoto; and yes, Yakushiji-san _is_ watching over him."_

Minato chuckled at that. "Good to know that the Kuzunoha Detective Agency is still appreciated. Heaven forbid the family services were reduced to being hired to look into bullying."

"…_Do I want to know what's so funny, Nii-san?"_

"Ahh, just a classmate who made some amusing suggestions, considering that he has _no_ idea how close to the mark he was."

He felt himself relaxing more than he had in days. As much as he liked his friends and comrades in SEES, and several of his other classmates at Gekkokan, the fact was that none of them knew who he really was. These chats with Naoto let him lower his guard, and not worry about hiding his name or his connections.

_Someday,_ Minato thought to himself. _Someday, I'll be ready to tell some of them. But not yet._

"_Somehow,"_ Naoto said, in response to his last comment, _"I suspect you enjoyed that a little too much, Kyousuke. You always love your little inside jokes."_

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Especially these days." He didn't elaborate; he had, regretfully, decided not to tell Naoto about SEES or Shadows or even Persona. It was something she just wasn't equipped to handle, and he didn't want to worry her. "Anyway. How are _you_ doing, Imouto? Last time we talked, you were excited about something, but you didn't want to tell me what yet."

"_Ah, yes. That."_ The thirteen-year-old's voice took on an unmistakable air of pride. _"Actually, what I was doing when you called was looking over Grandfather's files about his current case. He's finally decided to let me at least have a look at these things."_

Minato sat up straight. "Really? That's great, Naoto!"

His little sister had been studying the art of the detective for as long as he could remember, and had been badgering their grandfather to let her at least try her hand at a little behind-the-scenes analysis for a couple of years now. With anyone else, Minato -and his grandfather- would've thought that a tad precocious, and paid little mind. Naoto, on the other hand, was proving to be something of a prodigy.

He'd never told her, but he'd actually been speaking with his grandfather about this very possibility for the last year or so. No decision had been made as of when he left for Port Island, but he'd thought it likely it would be soon.

"_Thank you, Nii-san. I'm rather pleased with it myself."_ Minato could practically hear his sister's smile over the phone. _"It's still just analysis and a little research, but I think I've actually got some useful insights. If I keep this up, I might really be able to get field work done in another year or so."_

"I never doubted you, Imouto," he said honestly. "I always wished you were with us back in Nishinomiya, with the Detective Club."

"_Given what little hints you gave me about it, I'm actually inclined to believe that, Kyousuke."_ Naoto paused. _"Ah, yes, that reminds me. Tsuruya-san called the other day."_ Her voice turned stern again. _"It seems you forgot to pass on your updated contact information to her, and she wished me to remind you that she does _not_ like it when her subordinates are the subject of a mystery."_

"…Ooops." He winced, thinking of the potential consequences of irritating his green-haired senpai. "Um. I've been busy?" he tried.

"_I believe you know as well as I do how well _that_ excuse is likely to work, Nii-san,"_ Naoto said dryly. _"Now, shall I give her the details myself, or can I assure her that you'll be in touch with her yourself soon?"_

"I'll call her tomorrow," Minato promised. "Right after school."

"_Good."_ His sister sounded distinctly satisfied, which didn't really surprise him. She'd always been fond of the green-haired bundle of energy… probably, he'd always figured, because Tsuruya and her club had done much to pull him out of the depression Inaba had left him with.

They hadn't done a perfect job, but they'd gotten him smiling again. Laughing. And the nightmares had mostly stopped, after a few of the Club's adventures, building up a shield of good memories to buffer against the bad.

"_At any rate, Nii-san,"_ Naoto was continuing, _"I trust school is going well? You haven't mentioned your exam results, but if I know you…"_

"Top of the class, actually." With his sister, Minato felt no need to worry about "bragging"; between the two of them, success was more or less expected. "I don't think Junpei took that very well, but, well, I've _told_ him he should study more."

"_From what you've said of Iori-san, I suspect you'd do about as well talking to a wall."_

"Probably. But yeah, Imouto, school is going fine, apart from the teachers being a little out of whack." He leaned back in his chair, remembering one of the reasons he'd wanted to make this call in the first place. "Ah, yes, Naoto, I almost forgot. You still do some tinkering, right?"

There was a cautious pause; Naoto knew him a little _too_ well, he sometimes thought. And if she hadn't been _part_ of the Detective Club, she'd at least heard a few of the tamer stories, and met most of the members.

"…_Not as much as I used to, Nii-san, but yes,"_ she admitted after a moment. _"…Why do you ask?"_

"Well… I was wondering if you could maybe cobble together a piton gun."

There was dead silence on the other end as Naoto digested the request. _"Nii-san,"_ she began at length, _"you are either playing a prank on me, or preparing to embark on one of those 'adventures' you keep saying will make a good story for 'when I'm older'. If the latter, forgive me, but I think you may be going a bit far this time. …What on _earth_ do you need a grappling hook gun for?"_

Minato cleared his throat. "…Spelunking?"

"…_Spelunking."_

"Yeah. You know, cave-"

"_Nii-san, I've seen that movie, too,"_ Naoto cut him off. _"I believe your next request is supposed to be related to BASE jumping, yes?"_

"It hasn't reached that point yet!"

"_Yet. I see."_ Even over the phone, Minato could feel his sister's suspicious gaze, trying to read his mind, scanning the body language she -fortunately- couldn't actually see this time. _"Nii-san, you're very fortunate there is not, as far as I know, a major criminal investigation going on in Port Island right now. If there were, I assure you, I _would_ get to the bottom of this."_

"It's for a good cause?" he said weakly.

"_With you, I'm sure it is. Which is the only reason I'm willing to contemplate this at all."_ Naoto sighed, the exhalation carrying with it a sense of fond exasperation. _"Very well, Nii-san, I'll see what I can put together, though it may take me some time. Someday, however, I _will_ expect an explanation for the strange stories you keep coming up with."_

"Of course, Imouto. Someday, you'll hear every bit of it."

_Someday when it's all over,_ Minato promised himself. _When you can't get hurt trying to get involved in something you don't have the power to handle. You're a far better successor to the name of Raidou than I am, Naoto, but I know you: you'd come running, and find yourself out of your league._

_Though if you ever _did_ become a Persona user, I bet you'd be a holy terror at it._

* * *

There were certain advantages to the Kirijo Group owning an entire hospital. Most obviously, it gave them a secure place to check up on cases like Fuuka Yamagishi and Natsuki Moriyama, Persona user and near-Shadow victim, respectively. The doctors here could look for things that regular medical personnel wouldn't think of, and do so without those same regular personnel looking askance about it.

Less obviously, it meant the waiting rooms were perfectly safe places for those same patients to be discussed.

"It looks like they're both going to be just fine," Mitsuru commented. She was leaning against one wall, a clipboard with medical reports in hand. "Moriyama wasn't fed on at all, just encountered some kind of hypnotic compulsion."

Akihiko, seated in one of the typically uncomfortable chairs that seemed to fill all hospitals, nodded. "And Yamagishi?"

"As we surmised at the time, Yamagishi was merely exhausted. Much like Arisato, though to a much lesser degree." Mitsuru tucked the clipboard under her arm. "I've run some tests personally, to determine the nature of her Persona ability. Not surprisingly, considering her performance in the operation, it's pretty much exactly what we believed at the time: the same sensory capabilities as my Penthesilea, only boosted to a much higher degree, and without Penthesilea's combat ability."

That surprised neither of them. Yamagishi's Persona had demonstrated a powerful defensive effect around her, directly, but it had genuinely turned the tide of battle when Yamagishi realized she could sense the exact nature of the Shadows. Even something as abstract as a weakness to blades, specifically, she'd been able to "see" with minimal effort.

_Saved us all,_ Akihiko thought. _We were all on the ropes by then, even Minato. Without Fuuka, we'd all be dead now, even him._

"I notice Minato didn't even bother coming in to get his cuts checked out," he commented after a moment. "I seem to recall he did get banged up himself. Hell, the Emperor actually knocked him out cold for a couple of minutes!"

"Arisato's injuries… had already healed by the time we left Tartarus," Mitsuru said slowly. "Even with Persona, the impact that knocked him out _had_ to have done internal damage, but he was clearly fine by the time he finished off the Emperor."

"…That shouldn't be possible." Akihiko frowned. "I mean, that _really_ shouldn't be possible. Even with his weird Persona abilities."

"I know, Akihiko, but it's still a self-evident fact." She shrugged. "We _did_ already know he'd recovered from a shoulder wound that should've resulted in at least some permanent loss of function."

"Yeah, but still… Ah, forget it. That's the least of our worries right now. If it's a worry at all." He shook his head. "I guess I should be more worried about the way he lost it during that battle. That guy's normally cold as ice when he's fighting, but that time…"

Mitsuru nodded. She remembered very well how bizarrely calm Arisato had been the night he'd arrived at the dorm, despite it being his first exposure to the Dark Hour. More than that, she'd seen the footage of his first battle with Shadows, and provided support through several "Floor Guardian" battles inside Tartarus. Through all of those, Arisato had been calm and collected.

The monorail, too. For all that she still thought his tactics had been somewhat reckless, they'd also been somewhat forced on him by Iori refusing to accept Arisato's original instructions to advance cautiously, and he'd been the only one with his wits collected enough to figure out how to stop the train before it could crash.

"Well, Mitsuru?" Akihiko asked. "Did his outburst at least give you any ideas about where to look to figure out who the hell he actually is?"

"Not really," she admitted. "And… to be honest, I think I'm going to stop looking." At his look of surprise, she smiled ruefully. "I don't think it's a test after all, Akihiko. I think my father just didn't think it was any of our business. Whatever it was, it was personal, and it was bloody."

Akihiko's eyes narrowed. "…You aren't actually taking seriously his remark about demons, are you, Mitsuru?"

"I'm not about to discount it completely," she said bluntly. "We know about Shadows already. I'm not prepared to categorically state that there are no other supernatural phenomena out there that we haven't personally encountered. Regardless, I don't believe there's anything further to be gained by digging. Not unless he chooses to tell us himself."

"…Well, it's your call," Akihiko finally decided. "I don't think he's a danger to us, so sure, let's just let sleeping dogs lie.

"But I still wanna know, someday, if he was being serious when he talked about demons and vampires. That's either really cool, or really freaking scary."

* * *

Thursday, June 11th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_A bright, sunny morning in Iwatodai. All seems normal and cheerful; even the Lost have decreased in number, now that those big Shadows are dead. Might not be a lasting victory, but for now, things are going well._

_So why,_ Minato asked himself, walking from the monorail station toward Gekkokan, _do I feel like the other shoe is going to drop soon?_

_**Because you have a nasty, suspicious mind, Master?**_

_**Aye. I say we've till the next Full Moon before the storm comes 'pon us again. Tartarus on a normal night is little to fear now, and school… Well. 'Tis **_**manageable**_** insanity.**_

"Ah, Arisato." The voice of his redheaded senpai interrupted the byplay from his Personas, somewhat to his relief. "I trust you're doing well?"

"Completely recovered from the other night's operation," Minato confirmed, as Mitsuru fell into step with him. "And I've already started making arrangements to account for some weak spots I discovered during it."

"That's good to hear. Speaking of full recoveries," Mitsuru added, "Yamagishi is also back on her feet. She'll be coming to the dorm tonight, where we'll fill her in on everything. Meet up in the command room after school, all right?"

"I'll be there, Senpai."

"Good." Her gaze was aimed toward the school, but from how thoughtful it was, Minato doubted she was actually looking at the buildings at all. "The power she demonstrated that night… It would be a great advantage to us if she decided to join SEES. Her support could be invaluable."

_Not about to deny that. We were all getting flattened until Fuuka started scanning them; after that, it was practically a cake walk._

_Trick is, Senpai, Yukari seems to have decided that's _all_ this is about. I don't know what's gotten into her, but it seems to me that convincing _her_ will be the hard part…_

* * *

Morning

* * *

"Are we talking about the Kamakura Era today? …Oh, I guess not… What, we haven't covered Heian yet?"

Mister Ono. Entertainingly peculiar as always, and, also as always, pretty much useless at teaching History outside his particular area of interest. Minato was fairly sure, judging from his total lack of enthusiasm for what he'd just said, that this was going to be another case of "say as little as you think you're legally obligated to say, and hope for their sakes' that they study the requisite material on their own sometime between now and the next exams".

"Well, we'd better go through it real quick," Ono said with a sigh, confirming the expectation. "First the Taika Reforms. They happened in the year 645. That's all you should need to remember."

…_Um, Sensei. Wouldn't it be kind of helpful to know what they _were?_ Tests usually ask for more than just a timeline…_

When Kenji, for once paying attention to something other than his… particular ambitions… raised that very question, Ono looked at him like he was crazy. "What were they about?" he repeated, bemused. "I don't see how _that_ matters. They weren't anything really important." He sighed dramatically, one hand clutching at his Samurai helmet. "Man… Who cares about any of this stuff?! I wanna get to the Sengoku Era! Masamune Date is calling out for me!"

…_Yeah. Okay. I'll just do some reading on my own after school. But, uh, Sensei, I'm starting to kind of wonder if I should be calling the men in white coats? I think "hearing voices" is usually considered a bad sign._

_**Oh, no! Quick, Valkyrie, we need to make a phone call! Our Master is suffering from the same thing!**_

…_**You **_**twit.**_** And how, exactly, **_**could**_** we make phone calls? Our Master is the one with limbs! …Drat, you've drawn me into it again…**_

_**Gotcha!**_

Determinedly ignoring the argument going on his head -and mentally conceding Pixie's point, the Fae Persona having essentially proven it herself- Minato amused himself by focusing his vision discretely on Ono's helmet. He'd noticed his strange ability had a noticeable visual effect on his eyes, so he had to be careful with it, but he judged it unlikely Ono would notice in the throws of his lament.

_Well, I'll be. The composition is right, and rate of decay seems to match up with that kind of elapsed time. I do believe that helmet really _is_ from the Sengoku Era. …I wonder if he has a sword to match it? Or the rest of the suit of armor, for that matter._

_**Beware, Master! We do not want to give him ideas!**_

* * *

Evening

* * *

_I really, really hope Kenji has an attack of sense soon. This is getting seriously creepy, and I don't think it's going to be long before the other shoe drops. Right on his head, and possibly mine if I'm not very, very careful._

_**Hee-hooo!**_

_You know, Jack, that's just about the least useful comment you could possibly make. You know that, right?_

_**Hee-hooo?**_

…_Yeah. That's what I thought. Valkyrie, hit him for me, will you?_

_**Gladly, Master. This may hurt a little, however…**_

Shaking off both the minor headache from his Personas clashing in his mind _and_ the memory of his outing with Kenji Tomochika that day, Minato was extremely pleased to see Yukari arriving at the dorm at the same time he was. Hell, he was even glad to see Junpei, after the afternoon he'd had.

"So. Fuuka's supposed to be here tonight, eh?" he noted, opening the door to let his teammates in. "I guess now I'm in the position Akihiko-senpai was when _I_ joined up."

"Hell, yeah! We get to welcome the new recruit!" Junpei's grin was, typically, blinding, and tonight was no exception. He actually looked downright giddy. "We'll even prolly be the ones to show her the ropes!"

Yukari was more subdued, leading the way into the lounge. "Don't get too excited, you two," she warned. "There's no guarantee she's actually going to join. She could just say no, you know?"

Her tone made Minato look at her askance. "Yukari… you're starting to sound like you don't think she _should_ join us."

"That's not it at all!" she protested, shaking her head quickly. "It's not that I'd _mind_ if she joined, I'm just… worried that Mitsuru-senpai is going to try to force the issue. As great as it would be to have Fuuka help, it's supposed to be _her_ decision."

"You're worrying too much, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said, laughing as they started up the stairs. "Our senpai aren't like that. I mean, there wasn't any pressure on _me,_ when Akihiko-senpai found me. He offered, I accepted, that was it!"

"No offense, Junpei, but _you_ didn't have a special power that they knew would be particularly useful," she countered.

"I _did,"_ Minato retorted, before Junpei could take offense. "Sorry, Yukari, but this time, I'm with Junpei." It felt like pulling teeth, agreeing with Junpei Iori on any serious matter, but it had to be done. "Fuuka's going to get the facts, and she's going to be offered a choice. Yeah, maybe Senpai will emphasize just how big a help her power really would be, but honestly, Yukari, that's nothing more than the simple truth. A truth she deserves to know."

Yukari looked away, unconvinced. "I hope you're right…"

Ascending the seemingly endless stairs to the fourth floor, Minato took the lead at the top and was the first to enter the command room. Waiting for them inside, Mitsuru and Akihiko were already seated, occupying seats to either side of the central table. Shuji Ikutsuki was in his usual place at the head of it; Minato reflected absently that this was the first time he'd actually seen the Chairman since the monorail operation, a month previous.

Standing nervously to one side was Fuuka Yamagishi, looking far more lively yet also much more anxious than when last he'd seen her.

"Ah, Minato, everyone," Ikutsuki called, seeing them enter. "Please, have a seat." As they moved to join their seniors at the table, he turned to Fuuka. "You're Fuuka Yamagishi, yes?"

She nodded quickly. "Y-yes, that's right, Sir."

He chuckled. "Come now, Fuuka, there's no need to be nervous. Please, just sit down." When she had, taking a spot not far from Minato, he nodded encouragingly. "First, let me express my relief that you're all right. When Minato's investigation discovered you'd been missing for so long, I was really very worried."

Fuuka blinked, turning to look at the blue-haired swordsman. "Investigation…?"

He waved a hand. "It's a long story, Yamagishi-san. Suffice to say, when it was learned you might have the power you demonstrated the other night, I was asked to look into the matter. When I did, well, things spiraled off into learning that no one had seen you in over a week."

"Thank you for that," she said earnestly. "I had no idea so much time had passed. I thought it had only been a few hours, and yet…"

Mitsuru nodded. "An effect of Tartarus and the Dark Hour that even we hadn't realized before. It probably saved your life, though."

_Too true. Like I figured at the time, even without Shadows, there's just no way for a human to sustain themselves in there for days at a time._

"That said," Ikutsuki said now, "I want to thank all of you, as well, for your fine investigative efforts. You did a wonderful job getting to the bottom of what happened. And Fuuka," he continued, turning back to her, "I'm sure you'll be glad to know that all three girls have regained consciousness, and will be going home soon."

Fuuka sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. It was bad enough when Moriyama-san put herself into such danger to find me. When I heard that the other girls had also suffered because of this…"

_You're a better person than I am, Fuuka,_ Minato thought to himself. _They locked you in a storage room and inadvertently trapped you in freaking Tartarus, and it's _their_ health you're worried about more than your own._

_**She is a pure spirit, indeed,**_ he heard Apsaras remark in the back of his mind. _**It would take truly severe provocation for her to feel ill will toward any, even those who have wronged her.**_

"It was quite the story," Ikutsuki mused. "It seems the three girls were quite clever, avoiding the night guards to check the school night after night. Unfortunately, they didn't realize the danger that place represents at midnight, and the existing strange reports around the gym twisted the whole matter into a ghost story… which no one took seriously until it was very nearly too late."

"I _told_ you guys there wasn't a ghost," Yukari muttered.

"I'm so sorry for being such a bother."

Heads turned in surprise at Fuuka's out of the blue apology, Yukari's especially. "What on earth are you apologizing for?" she demanded incredulously. "You were the one who got locked up and tossed into Tartarus!"

"But you all nearly died to save me! I…"

_**Pure spirit… but lacking confidence,**_ Apsaras conceded. _**Perhaps SEES will be good for the girl.**_

_Better be. Junpei's attitude is probably healthier than that.. And I cannot _believe_ I just thought that. Hopefully I'll never have to again._

"Yamagishi," Mitsuru began, leaning forward, "that's as may be, but _you_ didn't throw yourself into that position. Indeed, you saved all _our_ lives, in the end."

Fuuka turned to her, eyes wide. "Are you serious, Senpai?"

"Absolutely. Yamagishi, you have a special power, one we call Persona, and that power was just what we needed that day. I have a trace of the particular ability you used, but it's not nearly as strong; certainly not strong enough for that situation. If you hadn't been there, and acted, those Shadows might as well have been as invincible as they seemed."

"And before you try to say we wouldn't have even been in that situation if we weren't trying to rescue you," Minato put in, also leaning forward, "let me tell you that that's almost certainly not the case. You were why we were _there,_ but you didn't conjure up those Shadows."

"That's right," Akihiko agreed, seeing where his junior was going. "We've fought Shadows with similar behavioral patterns a couple of times before. If we hadn't fought them there, we would've had to fight them somewhere else."

"Somewhere _you_ wouldn't have been," Minato finished, smiling reassuringly. "Yamagishi-san, in a way, your being locked up almost certainly saved lives."

He noticed Yukari giving him a very sharp look after that, but he didn't particularly care. He wasn't telling Fuuka this to inspire her to join SEES, but rather to try and clear up the doubt and guilt the poor girl was feeling.

Given his own experiences, he knew damn well what was going through her mind. Unlike with him, _none_ of the blame was hers, and he wasn't about to watch her beat herself up over it.

"That power, your particular gift of Persona, could save yet more lives, Yamagishi," Mitsuru said earnestly. "Many more, at the rate things are going."

Off-balance or no, guilt-ridden or not, Fuuka Yamagishi was not an idiot. "Senpai, are you asking me to join your group?"

"We are," Akihiko confirmed. "Your strength would be absolutely invaluable."

"But we're not trying to pressure you," Yukari put in quickly, shooting Minato in particular a very sharp look indeed. "There's no hurry at all, so take as much time as you-"

"I'll do it!" Fuuka interrupted, coming to her feet; her face had changed from anxious and uncertain to determined. "I'll help you all!"

The archer leaned back in her seat, startled by the other girl's vehemence. "Uh… are… are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Fuuka said firmly. "You all saved me, whether it would've still happened without me or not. If I can really help save more lives with you, then I can't refuse."

"Um…" Yukari bit her lip. "Uh… Fuuka-san, you do realize you'd have to live at this dorm, if you join SEES?"

Minato, as surprised as any of them by Fuuka's quick, emphatic decision, found her next words somewhat instructive. "That's just fine by me," she said, not even blinking at the stipulation. "Actually, I'd _rather_ live in the dorms than at home, to be honest."

_Um. Pixie, I begin to think we may have more evidence for my theory that a broken home life might be somewhat connected to Persona use._

_**Correlation doesn't equal causation, Master… but I'm inclined to agree. There's such a thing as too many examples to be definitively ruled coincidence.**_

Mitsuru smiled at Fuuka. "We really appreciate this, Yamagishi. Don't worry, we'll have the school talk to your parents to resolve any issues; we won't put all of it on your shoulders."

_Senpai noticed it, too. Interesting._

"Wait a minute!" Yukari protested. "Aren't we rushing her into this?"

"Um, Yukari-san, please," Fuuka said. "It's fine, really."

Minato wasn't surprised to see that his friend wasn't at all convinced; which made him all the more relieved that Ikutsuki chose that moment to reenter the conversation, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Welcome aboard, Fuuka," the Chairman said warmly. "I'm sure you'll fit right in. And with that said…" He adjusted his glasses with one hand. "Once again, we've encountered Shadows of an unusual, but apparently related, type. Akihiko has spoken of your theory regarding their connection to the Full Moon, and I'm inclined to agree. From now on, we'll take the phases of the moon into consideration when planning operations."

"The Full Moon, eh?" Junpei chuckled. "So, they're kinda like werewolves, then. That's kinda cool."

Minato snorted. "Nah. Werewolves are easier to kill, usually." Closing his eyes -and just missing the very speaking looks just about everyone in the room gave him- he leaned back. "Well. Your garden variety werewolf is, anyway, especially if you've got plenty of silver on hand. Loup-garou, now, that's something else entirely. Really nasty piece of…" He trailed off, finally noticing the attention he was getting. "Uh, guys?"

"Minato," Yukari said firmly, glaring at him, "that's not a very funny joke. I thought I told you to cut that out at the monorail."

"Who said I was joking? I mean, I've only actually-"

"Dude," Junpei cut him off, "you're scaring the ladies. Hell, you're scaring _me._ If you've really fought werewolves and demons, at least save it for daylight!"

* * *

Friday, June 12th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Minato wasn't at all surprised to find that Yukari was looking… somewhat out of sorts, when his path joined hers on the way to school the next morning. He had a pretty good idea of what was on her mind, had in fact been expecting the imminent conversation.

"Morning, Minato," she said, looking like she hadn't slept too well the previous night. "…Look, I really have to ask: what do you think about Fuuka joining us?"

"I think her power will save all our hides in the coming months," Minato replied honestly. "Senpai was saying that our progress up Tartarus was approaching the limits of her support capabilities, remember? Fuuka's greater reach, and apparent higher sensitivity, could be what keeps us alive."

Yukari closed her eyes, visibly fighting back annoyance. "I do understand that, Minato. But that wasn't-"

"Wasn't what you were asking, I know." He sighed. "Yukari, I know you think Fuuka was pressured into this, but I really can't agree. Senpai, Akihiko-senpai, and I all told her nothing but the simple truth: her power was the only reason we survived that. And, Yukari, she not only deserved to know that, she _needed_ to. I've been in a place like hers, only worse. The guilt she was feeling could've crushed her." He held up a hand. "I won't deny that she might've felt pressured, but if it was by anything, it was what she saw that night. We didn't put her there, Yukari, and we didn't summon the Shadows that nearly killed her. What we did was save her, and make her realize that she saved _us."_

_**Yes. She bore a guilt that was not hers to bear, placed on her by circumstances and, I would surmise, some prior pressure on her. Her susceptibility to bullying, and her eagerness to move to the dorm, paint an interesting picture, Master.**_

_**Hindu-chick is right about that, Master. I'm just a figment of your imagination, but I can tell you right now Fuuka's got a hell of a guilt complex.**_

Yukari, of course, couldn't hear the internal debate, and probably wouldn't have agreed if she had. She had a set, concerned look on her face, and as they neared the school gates, she suddenly stopped and turned to face Minato directly.

"Minato," she said quietly, "you do realize Mitsuru-senpai is hiding things from us, don't you?"

"Yes," he replied, surprising her with his prompt response. "So is Ikutsuki-san. Maybe Akihiko-senpai, too, though if so he hides it better." Minato glanced over to Gekkokan itself, so harmless-looking in the light of day, showing no sign of its darker side. "Senpai didn't exactly do a good job obfuscating things when Junpei asked if she knew why the school becomes Tartarus, for one thing."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Yukari demanded, exasperated.

"Not especially." He shook his head at her expression. "Yukari, there are a fair few things in _my_ past that I prefer not to talk about, which may or may not be relevant to what we're doing. I was _not_ kidding when I said I've killed nastier things than those Shadows, for one. It would be hypocritical of me to call out Senpai for now telling the whole story."

"You secrets haven't dragged anyone else into danger," she retorted. "Minato, you really don't care of if you were invited into SEES based on a lie?"

"I do care," Minato contradicted, turning to resume the walk to school. "And sometime, I'm going to get to the bottom of it, just as I'm sure Senpai will eventually find out why I started screaming like a maniac the other night. But as for getting me into this? Yukari… as soon as I knew something strange was going on here, joining up was the only thing I could do. Lies or not, it wouldn't have changed my choice. It was the only choice I _could_ make.

"The only one that was true to myself."

* * *

Morning

* * *

Coming back to school felt strange to Fuuka. To her, she'd only missed three days, but to the rest of the student body, she'd been gone two entire weeks. What had been ten admittedly stressful hours for her had been ten _days_ for her classmates and worried parents.

She was extremely grateful to Chairman Ikutsuki and her seniors for helping smooth things out at home. It still hadn't been entirely pleasant, but it was far, far easier than she'd had any right to expect. School, though, she had to handle by herself.

There were advantages to not being well-known on sight by most of the student body. Making her way to her classroom, Fuuka had a little time to compose herself, and reflect on what had happened. Spotting a certain blue-haired student on her way into the building had reminded her vividly of that strange battle in the transformed school.

She hadn't said anything to him, and didn't intend to now, but she'd felt more than just the Shadows during that event. Fuuka's power was broader than that, and she'd felt the Arcana and general strengths and weaknesses of SEES' fighters, as well. More than that, she'd sensed, however dimly, the emotions they held in that battle.

Minato Arisato's emotions had been anything but dim. Even lying on the floor, unconscious, as he'd been when Fuuka first got to the Tower's foyer, he'd radiated supernatural power; awakened, thrown into some kind of stress-induced flashback, he'd been a shining beacon of sheer _pain._ Pain, and the most relentless determination she'd ever encountered.

Mitsuru-senpai and the others had been angry, and afraid. Minato had been enraged, all right, and he was definitely afraid; but his fear had had nothing to do with the possibility of his own death, and everything to do with the chance of failure, that _he_ would fail to save the lives of his friends… to save her life, and Moriyama-san's.

Fuuka was sure of one thing: Minato had been seeing something from his past at least as much as he'd seen Tartarus. Whatever it was had been terrible, yet it had also driven him to keep fighting well past the point of sanity.

Fuuka had a lot of reasons for so quickly accepting SEES' request for her help. She wanted to pay them back for saving her, she wanted to be part of saving the lives of the potential victims of Shadows. More selfishly, she desperately wanted the promise of living in the dorm, away from the ever-present pressure from her parents. In the dorm, she could focus on her studies, not on the consequences of falling behind.

As much as any of those, edging some of them out, even, was the memory of that pain, that horrible memory Minato Arisato had been reliving.

If he could keep going, keep returning to battle despite such tragedy, how could she let her own petty problems stop her from putting her power to good use?

It was even enough to keep her going when she reached Classroom 2-E, opened the door, and walked into the gossip she so hated.

"Oh, look! The ghost girl is back in the land of the living! Guess she isn't really dead after all."

Fuuka knew that voice. Of course she knew it. Just as she knew the other voices whispering -or not whispering- as she walked toward her desk.

"Hey, watch it! She can hear you, y'know."

She could keep going. She _would_ keep going. That didn't mean the hurtful words lost all their power, though. She thought she can stand up for herself now, but that didn't make it any less-

"Oh, be quiet, will ya?" another voice interjected, sounding very annoyed. "Hey, Fuuka, if they're talking like that, you're here, right?"

Fuuka, just setting her books down on her desk, looked up in surprise to see a familiar, tanned brunette entering the classroom, smiling cheerfully. "…Moriyama-san?"

"Yo." Moriyama strode over, ignoring most of the gossipers, glaring at one or two of the worst of them. "I heard you're going to be moving to the dorms soon, Fuuka?"

"Yeah," Fuuka acknowledged, more than a little weirded out by Moriyama's obvious friendliness. She remembered the other girl's contrition in Tartarus, but this complete turnaround had her thrown for a loop. "I'll be moving in a couple of days, actually."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have some people to look out for you there. But you look pretty depressed anyway, Fuuka." Moriyama's eyes were filled with what looked to be genuine concern. "Look, I know you'll have your club helping you, but they can't be there all the time. If you ever need a friend, somebody to talk to, come see me, got it?"

Fuuka swallowed, deeply touched. "Moriyama-san…"

The other girl grinned. "Oh, c'mon, don't be so formal. Just call me Natsuki, 'kay?"

…Maybe, just maybe, _everything_ was looking up, now. "…Thank you, Natsuki-chan." _More than you can know… Thank you._

* * *

Evening

* * *

As contentious as the morning had been, Minato had almost forgotten it by the time he returned to the dorm that evening. He'd had a good practice session with the Kendo Team, followed by some minor drama surrounding Kaz; the star of the team had managed to write off his slow performance as being due to recent sleeping trouble, but Minato had gotten a quick look at his knee.

He'd only seen it briefly, having needed to be discrete, but his new ability had shown him that Kaz wasn't as "okay" as he claimed. Minato wasn't an expert in the field, couldn't tell at a glance the exact ramifications of the injury, but it worried him.

For now, he'd let Kaz handle it. He respected his "rival's" privacy, and if there was one thing Minato Arisato refused to ever do, it was force something on someone else "for their own good". He _hated_ that particular motive with a passion.

When he actually entered the lounge, he found just Junpei, Akihiko, and a long, narrow box. "Yo, Minato!" Junpei called cheerfully; he was stretched out on one of the couches, eating cup ramen. "Mitsuru-senpai and Yukari are up on the third floor cleaning up a room for Fuuka. No guys allowed, but they did say they'd call us in if they need anything squished."

"Just so long as it doesn't involve giant spiders," Minato quipped, shuddering dramatically. "I don't like overgrown arachnids."

"_That_ one had better be a joke, Detective," Akihiko warned. He occupied one of the armchairs, and was looking over the reinforced gloves he used for real combat. "By the way, a package came for you today." His expression turned wry. "Just in case, Mitsuru insisted on checking it for explosives, though I'm honestly not sure if she would've confiscated them or if she just wanted to be kept informed."

"She did seem pretty calm about it when she thought Junpei had planted a bomb to get us into Gekkokan," the blue-haired swordsman mused, crossing to the table. "Nope, not explosives, Senpai. It _is_ a weapon, though. I won't tell you how much it cost to have it shipped overnight…"

Dropping on the couch opposite Junpei, Minato slipped a knife out of his belt buckle -drawing a sharp look from Akihiko, but not a particularly surprised one- and with professional ease sliced the box open. Tucking away the knife again, he withdrew from the shipping cardboard a heavy wooden box, built of blackened oak.

Junpei abandoned his ramen to sit upright, staring openly at the simple but obviously well-made box. "Okay, I give. What the heck is in that, Minato?"

In answer, Minato flipped open the box's clasps and lifted the lid, exposing the fabric-covered, padded interior. There were two hollows in the deep red, one empty, the other holding a length of black wood, seemingly featureless. It could've been mistaken for a simple walking stick, were it not for the fact that it matched the "walking stick" Minato himself frequently carried, and his teammates had seen in use many times now.

"Ah," Akihiko noted, leaning forward to look closer. "I should've known. Another sword."

"Another sword," Minato confirmed, lifting it out of its case. "This one custom-ordered from the Kirijo Group's labs; I'm not taking any chances on a weapon not holding up to the demands I'll be placing on it. It's a small miracle that Eurydice turns out to have been made that way. Something I need to ask my grandfather about, since he made the arrangements that time…"

Trailing off, Minato deftly twisted the sword's grip fractionally, releasing it, and drew the blade from her scabbard. Unlike Eurydice, which was plain, polished steel with nothing more than a wave pattern along the edge, this weapon was coated in pure black, the glossy coat gleaming like the night sky even in the lounge's lighting.

As much as he appreciated the aesthetics of the ninjato, Minato had another priority. He wasn't willing to trust his life to a blade he wasn't completely confident of, and now he had an extra measure to take to make sure it was flawless.

Focusing on the blade, he _looked_ deeper, examining the very structure of the weapon. As he'd thought, the Kirijo-made material matched Eurydice's; more importantly, this weapon was fully as tough and well-made as his usual battle partner.

When he looked up from his examination, he noticed his teammates staring at him. "Um, Minato," Junpei said carefully. "I don't suppose there's a logical explanation for your eyes turning glowing silver just now? 'Cause that was just a little creepy. And _please_ tell me it doesn't have anything to do with demons or… stuff like that."

"Beats the hell out of me," Minato admitted candidly, resheathing the sword. "I noticed it just after we killed the Emperor and Empress. If I focus hard enough, I can 'analyze' objects, determine their composition at a glance. And no, nothing in my admittedly checkered past explains it; as far as I know, _I_ am completely normal, Persona aside."

"…Handy trick," Akihiko noted. "Does it work on Shadows, you think?"

"Like Fuuka and Senpai?" The swordsman shook his head. "I haven't had a chance to test it on Shadows yet, but I don't think so. I slipped out last night to check Tartarus itself-and no, I didn't try going inside by myself," he added, seeing the look on the boxer's face. "I was just checking the building's exterior. All I got out of it was a headache. Seems like the ability is limited to normal matter, so Fuuka is _not_ out of a job already."

"No offense, man, but I think I'm relieved to hear that." Junpei scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "You're spooky enough as it is, Minato. And besides, we don't want Fuuka feeling unwanted, do we?"

_Translation: You don't want to risk already losing the cute girl before she even moves in. _Minato snorted mentally. _Not that this would compete with Fuuka's power even if it did work on Shadows. It only works on what I can see right in front of me, and it doesn't give me any kind of long-range "scanning". For that matter, I'm looking right at Akihiko-senpai right now, and I can't tell that he has a particular weakness to cold. I do see the last traces of his broken ribs, but…_

An ugly thought occurred to him just then, and from the look on Junpei's face the Man in the Hat had had the same idea. "Say, Minato, that doesn't let you-"

"No," Minato cut him off immediately. "It is _not_ X-ray vision. I can't really describe it, but it's more… abstract than that. An understanding, without precise visuals. I'm analyzing, not spying." This time his snort was audible. "Besides, my eyes aren't exactly cameras, Junpei. I couldn't take a picture for you even if I _could_ see things like that." His eyes narrowed. "And let's not forget, Senpai would 'execute' both of us for even considering the idea."

"Forget I said anything," the other said hastily, and cast about for a change of subject. "Um… Oh, yeah! That new sword of yours, does it have a name? I mean, you're pretty firm about Eurydice an' all."

"Of course." Minato leaned back into the cushions, remembering again the flashbacks he'd endured during the last operation. The flashbacks, and the lines of an old play that had inspired him when going about the all-important task of choosing a name for his new blade, for the weapon that would help guard his life and those of others.

Along with "Eurydice", it was a name that fit quite well, considering the circumstances of his last use of Niten-Ryu.

"'I loved Ophelia,'" he began, eyes closed, reciting from memory. "'Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.'"

Junpei… blinked, confused. "Uh…?"

"Shakespeare, Junpei," Akihiko informed him. "_Hamlet,_ I think." He was giving Minato a guarded, speculative look. "He means the sword is named Ophelia."

"Yes," Minato confirmed softly. "That's right."

_Ophelia… like Eurydice, thematically; just a different theme. The only theme I could imagine, connected with Niten-Ryu._

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

Minato was still awake when the Dark Hour began. He was polishing Ophelia, making sure blade and scabbard both were ready for action; he was expecting a call from Elizabeth soon, having a sneaking suspicion that yet higher floors of Tartarus were probably accessible now. When that call did finally come through, he wanted to be ready to mount another expedition.

Besides, his "sixth sense" was telling him that if he wanted to sleep undisturbed tonight, he should probably wait a little bit. If he was right, he would be getting a visitor any time now; no sense forcing said visitor to wake him up.

"Hello again," Minato heard, not long after the Dark Hour arrived. Turning in his chair, he saw the boy in the striped shirt coalescing over by his bed, much as he'd expected. "It seems you've prevailed yet again, just as I thought you would."

"Yes," he replied, sheathing Ophelia. "It was close, but we pulled through."

The boy nodded soberly. "Yes. I gather it was… painful for you. Yet prevail you did, and you grew stronger for it." He smiled. "Remember what I said before? Every victory you achieve, the end feels that much less certain. Indeed, it feels as if your power is beginning to change, and evolve, to better fight the end."

Minato suspected the boy was probably referring, in this case, to the strange ability his eyes had acquired. _I'd call that a change, all right. As far as I know, Persona is the only thing that sets me apart from normal humans, yet my eyes… That doesn't feel like Persona._

_Actually… it feels more like something else. That… whatever the hell it was that happened that day, with Saya. It's not identical, but the sense of the power…_

"If there is an 'end'," he said aloud, "I'm not about to sit down and let it happen without a fight. I've sacrificed too much to get this far, and I've got too much to lose."

The boy nodded, still smiling. "I thought you'd say something like that. You are always true to yourself, aren't you? And your true self is saying that you won't let anyone else die. …I like that about you." He tilted his head. "In fact, I was wondering… could I be your friend, too?"

Minato studied the boy in the striped shirt. He still had no idea who or even what the boy was, and almost never spoke to him outside these odd encounters in his bedroom; hardly the greatest basis for trust, let alone friendship.

Yet the boy had never moved to harm him, had frequently commiserated with him, and in the end had provided him with several key hints about what was really going on. In particular, the warning about the Full Moon had left Minato much better prepared for the recent operation than he would've been otherwise.

_And he's giving me early warning about some kind of potential catastrophe. If he's right, and I otherwise would've walked into unknowing, unprepared…_

Coming to a decision, Minato stood and walked over to the bed. "Fine by me. I'm… I'm Kyousuke," he said, extending a hand. "What's your name?"

"A name?" The boy looked thoughtful. "Oh, yes, I need a name, don't I? In that case… call me Pharos." He smiled again. "Thank you for the courtesy of telling me your real name, Kyousuke. I'll be in your care."

_Pharos… an ancient term for a type of lighthouse, I believe. Interesting; I wonder if it's relevant?_

"Likewise, Pharos. Let's see this through together, shall we?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

Only a week between chapters. Huzzah! I haven't written this fast in at least seven years, maybe eight. Maybe this Shark is beginning to recover some of his old self…

Ahem. Anyway. I'm not perfectly satisfied with this chapter, but that's mostly a function of the particular section of the game it's covering. As I remember it, not much of interest happens between rescuing Fuuka and the Shirakawa Boulevard event, so this was probably doomed to be slightly short and kind of bland.

Although I suspect the start of the chapter, at least, managed not to be too bland. In terms of action, it may have been "just" a perspective flip of the last scene of Chapter VI, but it wasn't exactly a total copy/paste affair, was it?

Next chapter, I'll try to get to the Shirakawa events; those will be… interesting, to say the least. Also going to try to minimize the "ripped-from-the-game" school scenes I've been doing somewhat mindlessly. Some of them are relevant, and keeping a few adds body to the story, but it's slowing down the story a bit too much to include so many of them. Chapter V, in the author's humble opinion, suffered fairly badly from that.

One more thing: I'm curious to see if anyone notices the foreshadowing of more crossover elements. It's fairly blatant in exposition, but the exact meaning may be obscure (and no, it's not _Blood-C;_ I'm just borrowing a name and physical characteristics from that). Speculation may be intriguing.

Hm. Guess that's everything. Review replies imminent if you haven't gotten them by the time this shows up; if you care for it one way or another, an opinion on this offering would be welcome. -_Solid_


	8. Chapter VIII: Heartbreak Hotel

Saturday, June 13th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Five days since the entire team had nearly gotten killed, and now everyone was more or less fully recovered. Minato's ribs and other damaged internals had quietly restored themselves, Fuuka was completely over her ordeal in Tartarus, and even the three bullies who'd wound up Shadow-food had completely bounced back.

_And, to top it all off,_ he thought, seeing Gekkokan's gates come into view, _there's been a noticeable decrease in the Gekko-High bully problem. Whether they remember the full events or not, it looks like being apparently responsible for Fuuka's "disappearance" scared 'em straight._

Minato had been keeping an eye on the parts of the school's societal macrocosm ever since concluding the Yamagishi Investigation. Having been caught completely flat-footed on the matter of bullying, which had led nearly to several deaths, he was intent on not missing a beat again. His Student Council membership helped in that regard; Hidetoshi Odagiri was, he privately admitted, a pompous would-be Inspector Javert sort, but he did know the school.

_Well,_ he amended to himself, _he knows what _happens._ His current crusade shows he doesn't quite grasp the human factor. Good thing I've got excellent contacts on the sports side of things; that's better for knowing attitudes._

Through Yukari and Yuko, Minato even had a tap on "girl talk", at least on the occasions they deemed it relevant to him. He was more than thankful that they didn't deign to share anything _else_ from that particular grapevine.

_And, hey, we've even got an overall reduction of the Lost, at least for a little bit. Even knowing it's cyclical to a degree, we at least know we're keeping it from spiraling too far out of control._

"Good morning, Arisato."

He almost jumped out of his skin when Mitsuru suddenly spoke up from about twenty centimeters away from his ear. _How the hell does she _do_ that?!_

"Morning, Senpai," he replied, once he was sure his voice would come out even. One of these days, he promised himself, he'd figure out how she managed to sneak up on _him,_ of all people. "How are things going with Fuuka's arrangements?"

"Quite well," Mitsuru assured him, matching pace with him as if she'd been there for several minutes. Which, he realized with some disquiet, she might _have._ "According to the Chairman, her parents didn't make too much of a fuss over the idea." She grimaced. "I got the impression they think a lack of 'distractions' will improve her grades. I'm starting to see why Yamagishi seemed so eager to move into the dorm."

"I noticed that, too. I've seen people struggling with family expectations before."

"Yes, I gather your class at your last school was… full of character, let's say." Mitsuru smiled faintly, and changed the subject. "Speaking of Yamagishi, now that she's joining us, she'll be taking over support duties."

Minato nodded. "She's certainly up to it. Even I thought we were dead, last time, until she started scanning the Shadows. I've never seen anything like it."

"She's certainly far more powerful a sensitive than I am," the redhead admitted ruefully. "Penthesilea has some capability in that regard, but I needed amplifying instrumentation to make much use of it. Even then, it wasn't as comprehensive as Yamagishi's, nor as powerful; I believe she'll be able to provide support across a much longer range than I could."

_And hopefully avert a repeat of last time,_ he mentally finished. He was somewhat acquainted with the dark and spooky, but he'd never been as disturbed in his life as when his senpai's contact with him had faded in and out during the recent operation. The simple statement, "_**Contact has been lost,"**_ had probably frightened him more than any other sentence he'd ever heard.

"That said," Mitsuru continued, "that means I'm free to enter the field myself now. Penthesilea is far more useful in combat than support, and while it may have been some time since I engaged Shadows directly, I don't believe I'm exactly rusty."

That didn't surprise Minato very much. People thought he did well academically, but he was frankly in quiet awe of his senpai, who managed top grades, studying for college, and being _captain_ of the fencing team, while also dealing with family corporate matters _and_ leading SEES.

_I can look for clues and break things. I may do both quite well, but that's about where my multitasking ability ends._

"I'll be looking forward to it, Senpai," Minato said aloud, as they approached the doors to Gekkokan's main building. "What little I saw the other night was impressive enough."

Mitsuru allowed herself a slightly wider smile. "I admit I was impressed by your skills as well, Arisato; but don't think you're the only one on the team who knows her way around a sword. I assure you, you can count on me."

They separated shortly after entering the building, but Minato found he couldn't quite get his Senpai out of his head. He remembered, vividly, her stance when the Emperor dissolved around her rapier's blade, and the elegant salute and flourish she'd performed afterward. There hadn't been time to think about it then -especially not when he was just coming back to himself after a very bad flashback- but remembering it now…

One of the most graceful things he'd ever seen. That she'd gone from being prone on the floor, battered and bruised, to standing and skewering such a powerful foe in such a short time only added to the impact. It was, so far, the only time he'd actually seen her use her blade, and he found that he couldn't wait to see it again.

_Note to self: drop by sometime when the Fencing Team is having an exhibition…_

_**Yeah, Master. That sounds like an awesome idea. And y'know, she's beautiful, **_**and**_** she isn't exactly that much older than you. Oh, and to top it all off, whatever Junpei might say, she's not **_**really**_** out of your league socially, so-**_

_**Do shut your mouth, Fae harlot, or I will be forced to take drastic measures!**_

_**Yeah? Like what, Norse tomboy? We're noncorporeal facets of our Master's mind; you can't actually hit me with that sword of yours-**_

_**Country. Western.**_

…_**I give up! Really, I won't say another word!**_

…_Thank you, Valkyrie._

* * *

Lunch Time

* * *

Interesting things one could learn about a school, when skulking about in search of clues. Minato had discovered, during his investigation of the "ghost story", that Gekkokan's observatory was fully functional, yet as far as anyone he talked to knew, it had never been used. It was just _there,_ a monument to apparently pointless expense. Some students weren't convinced it was even possible to enter it at all.

He'd also come across some strange rumors about what had happened to the school ten years ago, the same night his parents died. Those, he intended to follow up on very carefully when he had the time, not being entirely keen about having an unsolved mystery more or less _surrounding_ him every day for several hours.

Most practically, he'd figured out how to get onto the school's roof, technically an off-limits area, with no one noticing. It was a great way to spend lunch without being bothered by overzealous kendo rivals, overzealous disciplinary committee heads, or a certain teammate who seemed to be getting resentful about something again.

_One of these days,_ Minato promised himself, _I'm going to figure out what the hell is bothering Junpei. It can't be as simple as that hero complex of his that nearly got us killed on the monorail, could it? …No. Gotta be more to it. I just don't have it in me to do anything about right now, not so soon after the Yamagishi Case._

Right now, all he wanted was lunch, and he was finishing up a bowl of cup ramen when his cell phone rang. Given that he was still at school, and not as obsessed with keeping moment-to-moment track of his social life as a lot of his classmates, he almost ignored it. Almost.

The fact that it was playing a tune he'd heard in his dreams, a tune associated with lots of blue velvet, gave him pause. Setting aside his lunch, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open. "Yeah, Arisato," he said, already suspecting what he'd hear next.

Yes, it was a distinctive, cheerful, not-quite-normal chuckle that came through the speaker. _"Yes, I know,"_ Elizabeth said, mirroring their last phone conversation. _"You've been doing well in your battle against the Darkness lately, I've noticed."_

"The last operation was a little close, but we pulled through," Minato acknowledged, leaning back against the roof's railing. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure this fine day, Elizabeth? Not that I object at all, mind you."

Another chuckle. _"I'm glad to hear that, Minato. At any rate, I suspect you anticipated what I'm about to tell you."_

"About Tartarus, right?"

"_Precisely. As you've no doubt surmised, the defeat of the Emperor and Empress seems to have unlocked another barrier within the Tower; rather timely, given the addition to your ranks, I should think?"_

He was only mildly surprised that Elizabeth was, somehow, keeping track of SEES' internal dynamics. "I think it'll all work out nicely, yeah." He glanced at his watch, noticing that it was getting close to class time; he'd need to head in soon if he didn't want anyone to notice he'd been someplace he probably shouldn't. "Was there anything else?"

Minato was rather more surprised that the enigmatic woman hesitated before replying. _"Actually,"_ she said at length, _"there was. I realize you have many demands on your time, but I have a… somewhat selfish request. There isn't really time to discuss it now, but if I might call you again sometime soon?"_

Well, that was new. He couldn't think of a time that Elizabeth had contacted him outside of his dreams, save for these two calls about Tartarus. "…Okay, sure. I'll be waiting."

He could, like last time, somehow perceive her smile even over the phone. _"Thank you, Minato. Sometime early next month, I think. Until then, please take care."_

The call ended with a click, leaving Minato reflecting, yet again, that Elizabeth always seemed to get the last word. This time, she'd outdone herself.

_I wonder what it is she wants to talk about? I'd think Igor would be doing the talking, if it were anything to do with Persona._

_**Oh, I don't know, Master,**_ Pixie said slyly. _**I can think of a couple of things. Ooh, think of it: a tall, dark young man with a troubled past, and the mysterious, beautiful girl from another realm, in need of our dashing hero's-**_

_Valkyrie's threat still stands, Pixie. I mean it._

* * *

Evening

* * *

_Yuko, helping teach some kids to out-race older kids. Not what I'd have thought our fearless manager would get into, but then, I guess she didn't expect it, either. It looks like she might just be able to pull it off, though._ Minato mentally shook his head, closing the dorm's front door behind him. _Well, if she can keep the Kendo Team under control, she can probably manage this._

_I'd better brush up on physical training myself, though, if I'm going to be her assistant. …Sigh. How do I keep getting roped into things like this? At least I'm not bored._

The lounge wasn't exactly empty when he arrived. Junpei and Yukari were seated by the common table, and even Ikutsuki had shown up, occupying one of the arm chairs as was his wont. As usual, he was smiling, and his expression brightened further when he saw the swordsman. "Ah, Minato!" he called. "Have a seat. We're just waiting for the guest of honor."

"Guest of honor…?" Minato repeated, crossing to sit near Yukari. "Oh, right. Fuuka is supposed to move in tonight, isn't she?"

"That's right," the Chairman confirmed. "Actually, she was supposed to get here tomorrow, but she asked to come early. I didn't have any problem with it, so… Mitsuru and Akihiko are escorting her here as we speak."

"Yep," Junpei said, grinning from ear to ear, "we're just about to have another cute- Argh!"

"Shut up, Stupei," Yukari muttered, withdrawing her foot from where she'd kicked him in the shin. "Don't embarrass the rest of us, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah… Sheesh, Yuka-tan, maybe you outta work on those anger issues a little!" Despite the grumbling, Junpei subsided, enthusiasm only slightly dampened.

_Probably remembers my little rant a month or so back,_ Minato thought, amused. _He knows he won't get any support from _me_ on this issue._

"Now, now," Ikutsuki chided gently. "You can't blame Junpei for being excited. It's not every day we get a new member, now is it? I'm sure you'll all get along just fine!"

Silence settled in for a few minutes, during which about the only thing Minato found notable was the conflicted look on Yukari's face. _Still hasn't gotten over her concern about Fuuka being "forced" in, I see. Well, no help for it, I guess. Just have to see how things play out from here._

_Not exactly going to do a good job of convincing her myself. She's starting to realize I'm hiding things almost as much as Senpai._ He regretted that, but he just wasn't ready. He'd trust SEES, even -usually- Junpei, with his life, but some things just went deeper than that.

Before his thoughts could get too morbid, Minato heard footsteps just outside, and soon the front door opened again. Mitsuru and Akihiko came through it, the latter carrying a suitcase, and Fuuka Yamagishi brought up the rear with two more cases.

Nothing, Minato noted with some amusement, like the huge luggage rack Junpei had turned up with when he moved in.

"Ah, Fuuka!" Ikutsuki said, standing with a beaming smile. "Welcome to the SEES dorm!"

Fuuka smiled nervously, setting down her luggage. "Thank you very much," she said, bowing. "Um, I'll be in your care from now on, so please take good care of me."

Junpei grinned, swept off his hat, and bowed in return. "You can count on us, Fuuka! Don't worry about a thing; we'll handle the fighting, so all you need to do is stand back and tell us where to hit 'em!"

Yukari shot him a dirty look. "Don't mind him, Fuuka. We're just as glad to have you here as a fellow student. The more the merrier, y'know?"

_And on that point, I actually completely agree. Weird as it may be, this place is starting to feel like home, and a couple more people make it feel a little less empty._

"Your room is on the third floor," Mitsuru said to Fuuka. "But first, let me also welcome you here, and to our team."

"Thank you," Fuuka said again. "Well, guys," she went on, looking at the group as a whole, "I'll be taking Mitsuru-senpai's place as rear support in operations from now on, so… Arisato-san, please inform me when you want to go to Tartarus, and I'll make sure the team knows."

"'Minato' is fine, Fuuka-san," Minato told her, bowing respectfully. "We're in the same year, and on the same team now. No need to stand so much on formality."

"Oh, okay. I'll remember, Minato-kun." She smiled, still looking a little nervous, but not nearly as much as before. There was also something… odd about the way she was looking at him, at least to his eyes. Something…

_She knows something,_ Minato realizes. _Well, she had to have heard me when I went nuts that night, but it seems like there's more to it than that. I wonder why?_

Mitsuru moved to show Fuuka up to her room, but a comment from Junpei made her pause. "Wait a second," he said, frowning. "If Fuuka's taking over support, that means Mitsuru-senpai is joining us in the field, right?"

"Yeah, she is," Akihiko confirmed, visibly puzzled. "So?"

"So why is Minato still the one deciding when we're going to Tartarus?" the Man in the Hat said bluntly. "Shouldn't that be up to Mitsuru-senpai now?"

Mitsuru turned to face him, wearing an unreadable expression. "Actually, Iori, in light of my other responsibilities, the fact that I haven't been in the field myself in some time, and Arisato's experience leading the current SEES team, I've decided to leave him in place as field commander." She nodded at the swordsman. "You've done an exemplary job so far, Arisato, even if your tactics have occasionally been… unconventional. I'll provide advice in the field, but as things stand, I'm content to leave you in charge. I trust you have no objection?"

At one time, he might've. Once, Minato had been entirely content to play second fiddle to his "boss", and when he'd first arrived in Port Island, he hadn't been at all sure he was up to the task. He'd accepted originally simply because he was afraid Yukari would do worse. _And I was pretty much _certain_ Junpei would. I still think so, too._

Now, though, he had two major operations under his belt, and though it had been a near thing a couple of times, no one had actually died on his watch, even when the team had been almost completely fragmented. Those, plus the many expeditions he'd led into Tartarus to clear the place, had given him confidence.

"Not a problem, Senpai," Minato said, with only a few moments' thought. "Though if you think I'm being _too_ crazy, I'd appreciate a warning."

Mitsuru smiled faintly, probably thinking of his stunt at the monorail-a stunt which, in the end, had actually worked. "I'll bear that in mind, Arisato. I don't think I have too much to worry about, though."

She resumed her course for the stairs, Fuuka in tow, and completely missed the nonverbal byplay that followed. Akihiko, predictably, had raised no objections; he didn't especially care who led, so long as it wasn't himself or Junpei. Yukari, Minato recalled, had supported the choice from the beginning, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't like the idea of Mitsuru calling the shots directly.

Junpei, by contrast, had a look on his face that Minato had seen before. Only a couple of times, only briefly, but those times had been before, during, and just after the monorail operation, in which _something_ had driven him to take nigh-suicidal risks.

_What the hell is his problem?_ Minato wondered. _He can't possibly…?_

* * *

Monday, June 15th, 2009, Afternoon

* * *

"Our language can be very complex, especially in comparison to certain foreign languages. English, to be sure, is considered a very difficult second language, in large part due to its large number of homophones; Japanese, however, is arguably even worse where the written form is concerned. Indeed, I've heard it suggested that it's _impossible_ to decipher written Japanese without assistance from someone who already knows it." Toriumi sniffed. "That may or may not be pure hyperbole, but the complexity remains."

_No denying that. Either point. Combine the homophones with their metaphors, and even I start sounding like a crazy person if I'm not careful. …At least she's not talking about sweets today._

Toriumi's gaze swept the classroom in an almost predatory fashion. "Well, now, for an example… Junpei's looking a little shifty, so how about you field this one, Minato?"

Minato stood obediently, glancing at Junpei out of the corner of his eye just long enough to see the look on the latter's face. It was an odd mixture of relief and… irritation, Minato thought. Which seemed a mite odd, since he knew full well Junpei hated being called on in class. True, he hated it because he never knew the answer, but Minato failed to see how that was _his_ fault.

"All right, then, Minato, here's a sentence for you. 'I like these fruits apples, oranges, and grapes.' What punctuation is missing from that statement, and where?"

"A colon, right after 'fruits'," he answered, wondering inwardly why he often seemed to get picked for the no-brainers. _Not as bad as "two plus two", though. Ms. Toriumi isn't _that_ flaky._

"Exactly," Toriumi said, satisfied. "You'd make an excellent writer someday. Or a composition teacher," she added modestly. "That's a list, so you need a colon."

_Like I said. No-brainer. So why is Junpei glaring at me?_

* * *

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Fuuka was finding life in the dorm a huge improvement over living at home. Despite having only been there a couple of days, she'd found studying to be so much easier already, and she'd been sleeping better than she had in a long time. Her parents hadn't been entirely pleased with the move, but she felt even they would consider it worth it when they saw the improvement in her grades that she was anticipating.

Even if they likely never managed to understand that it was simply getting away from _them_ that was the answer.

Making her way from the monorail station toward Gekkokan, Fuuka admitted to herself that, all in all, she was actually grateful for the bullying she'd once suffered from. However indirectly, it had led to her joining SEES and getting some peace, and she'd even gotten a friend out of it, with Natsuki's complete about-face in attitude.

The one thing she was still confused about, though, was the fact that even though she lived at the same dorm as the rest of the SEES team, she didn't seem to match the morning schedule of the same member twice. Monday it was Yukari, who seemed oddly concerned about her -Fuuka just didn't get why the brunette seemed convinced she'd been "forced" to join SEES- while Tuesday it had been the enthusiastic Junpei who turned up, with Yukari nowhere in sight.

Now, with Gekkokan's gates coming into view once more, Fuuka saw the ever-calm, steady Minato ahead of her, with no trace of either of his classmates. He had his ever-present headphones on, and was lightly tapping a finger to whatever tune he was listening to.

To her continued relief, he felt "calm" on the inside. She'd run into him three or four times now since the night he'd saved her life, and there had been no repeat of the elemental fury, terror, and remembered pain that had filled him then. Fuuka had been interested to notice he was typically even more amused by the antics around him than he allowed himself to appear, and she'd felt a flicker of annoyance from him toward Junpei several times. Fear? Real anger? Apparently not normal for him.

The pain, though… As far as Fuuka could tell, that rarely went away completely. It might be buried so deep even Minato wasn't really aware of it, but it was there.

Catching up to him, she felt the moment he became aware of her presence; interestingly, several seconds before he actually reacted, and in spite of having no line of sight and his hearing obscured by his music. Even as she was coming up to his side, he was switching off his music and taking off his headphones.

"Good morning, Fuuka-chan," Minato said, smiling in greeting. "I hope you're adjusting well to life at the dorm?"

"It's great, actually," she admitted, flushing just slightly at his choice of honorific. She tell that he was just being friendly, but still… "It's a lot better than living at home. The only thing is, I don't understand why I never meet up with the same person twice when I get here!"

To her surprise, he laughed. "So I'm not the only one who's noticed it, then. Yeah, it's weird. I leave at about the same time every day, but it's always someone different; sometimes I don't see _any_ of the others before class." Minato shook his head. "I'd almost think that space was somehow warped around here, something like the Dark Hour, but I've actually done the math, timed it, everything, and everything _seems_ normal."

"Maybe some mysteries just can't be solved?" Fuuka ventured, getting into the spirit of it. "Or maybe it just takes a really great detective, like in the stories."

"Like Raidou?" Again, he felt even more amused than he allowed himself to show, making her wonder if there was some kind of private joke she just wasn't getting. "Anyway. How's school treating you, now that you're back?"

"Quite well, actually," Fuuka assured him. "I haven't been bullied at all since I got back, and Natsuki-chan has been very supportive. Actually," she went on, as they passed the gates and approached the entrance proper, "I'm even getting back into club activities."

Minato nodded thoughtfully. "That's right, you're in the Music Club, aren't you? I'd forgotten about that."

She blinked, surprised, before remembering the comments the others had made about the "investigation" that had led to SEES realizing she was missing. _I wonder just how much they found out,_ she thought, a little embarrassed at the idea. _Not that I should complain, since they _did_ save my life with what they found out…_

"I'm not very good at it yet," she confessed, shaking off the thoughts. "I'm getting there, though. Um, you're on the Kendo Team, right, Minato-kun?"

"Yeah. Got my own personal 'rival-slash-trainer-from-hell', even." He chuckled. "Gets exhausting, but Kaz means well; half of it is improving himself, and the other half is making sure I make it to the regionals in a couple months." Minato looked at her sidelong. "So, how's Music Club? Does anyone ever go crazy and try to spear somebody with a violin bow or anything?"

Fuuka laughed, starting to feel at ease. "No, nothing quite that interesting. Music aside, it's actually usually pretty quiet…"

* * *

Afternoon

* * *

_Edogawa. _Still_ the most interesting teacher in the school, even if it's impossible to tell whether he's being serious or not._

"Okay, let's begin. Pallas aron azinomas…" _I have no idea what that means, but it sounds cool._ "We all need to start somewhere," the oddball school nurse Edogawa began. "Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day, and neither was magic created in an instant! So today, I'll tell you about the origins of magic."

Minato sat up straight in his seat. Most of the weirdoes Gekkokan had decided to employ as teachers were merely entertaining in their insanity; Edogawa was genuinely interesting, if his introductory lecture was anything to go by.

"Long, long ago, at the very dawn of civilization itself, mankind created primitive religions. Animism, totemism, and shamanism all fall into this category. You've learned about them in world history, right?"

_Not here; Ono is too busy waxing poetic about the samurai. But yeah, we've all probably heard about it elsewhere._ He glanced discretely around at his classmates. _Well. Okay. _Some_ of us have._

"That last one, shamanism, is particularly important to the subject at hand, to the origins of magic. Shamans would fall into a trance state, acting as intermediaries between this world and that of the gods, not using their own strength directly. Still… it counts as 'magic' when they are shaping with their own hands the borrowed power of those gods. This shaman-style tradition of magic would later be embraced and expanded by those called witches, ages down the line."

_Witches? As in broomsticks and turning people into newts? Old crones prophesying doom in _Macbeth_? Useless trials that murdered who knows how many innocents?_

"Take the common European witch, for example," Edogawa continued, sounding as if he was discussing a particular subspecies of bird. "People today think their power comes from contracts with the Devil… but that's really just the image Christianity imposed on them. Even today, in some circles, 'witchcraft' is very much a respected branch of magecraft, and they're descended from very ancient religious traditions."

_Magecraft,_ Minato noted, frowning slightly. _Unusual turn of phrase. It feels like I've… heard that before…_

"The witches' predecessors were more like maidens serving the gods, such as in ancient Greece. It was through prayer to these gods that they received their power, and unlike the shamans of eons past, they learned to channel and manipulate this power without need for trance states, making it far more useful. That's how they originally awoke to magic, and indeed there was a time when Europe was full of a slew of religions worshipping various gods. They were generically called 'paganism', but in point of fact there was a wide variety between them." Edogawa's glassed seemed to flash, though there was no particular light source that could've caused the effect. "Alas, in modern times only a pale shadow of magecraft remains of what was once great magic."

_There it is again. It's not obvious, but he makes a distinction between the two terms. …Why?_

The odd moment passed, and Edogawa seemed his normal self again. "For your information, by the way, Christmas and Halloween both have pagan backgrounds; the current meanings of them belong to Christianity, but the dates and much of the traditional celebratory aspects are co-opted from paganism, to make it easier to convert believers by using their existing traditions."

_That much, I knew. I wonder if they'd have done it if they'd known the kind of controversy it would cause down the centuries?_

"Are you all still listening? No trance states now… Eeeheehee…" With his trademark, eerie laugh, Edogawa swept his gaze over the class. "I'll give you a little test, to see if you've been listening. Get it wrong, and your afterlife won't be pleasant. Pallas aron azinomas… Aha, Minato, I choose thee!"

Minato promptly stood, interested, but also thinking to himself, _What am I, a pocket monster in an improbably small ball?_

Edogawa looked right at him, his glasses catching the light at just the right angle to render them eerily opaque; Minato had the uncomfortable feeling that the nurse was studying him very intently. "I ask thee, Minato: what is the most basic origin of magic?"

_People think I study insanely hard to get these right. No, actually, I just pay attention in class. These aren't exactly hard questions if you keep your ears open._ "Shamanism," he answered easily.

Edogawa nodded in obvious approval. "Very good," he said, the shiny look disappearing from his glasses. "You'll be born into your next life as a human again." He grinned. "If you'd gotten it wrong, you would've ended up as a chupacabra, but it seems you've evaded that fate. Now then," the nurse went on, all business again, "Christianity and paganism are more tightly connected than you might think. Christianity has its origins at the height of the Roman Empire, and once Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity…"

"Hey, Minato," Junpei whispered, while Edogawa was distracted. "What the heck's a chupacabra, anyway?"

"Legendary cryptid," Minato murmured back. "North America. Something that supposedly attacks livestock; some so-called sightings have turned out to be various canines with mange, but the legend still persists."

"…I don't wanna know why you know that." A pause. "And what's a cryptid?"

"Widely believed in, can't be verified. Like Bigfoot."

"Oh."

* * *

Saturday, June 20th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_The morning gossip column. Hasn't been too interesting since we solved the Yamagishi Case, but it's always good to keep an ear out for how the student body looks at everything._

For once, Minato found himself completely unaccompanied on his way to school, so he wore his headphones to give the appearance of being oblivious to the world, but left the music off. Some would call it eavesdropping, and he _did_ make a point of ignoring obviously private conversations. Gossip about the school and city? That wasn't eavesdropping, he reasoned, that was sleuthing.

"The Kirijo Group was in the news again today," he heard one girl remark to another. "Big project up near Tokyo, I hear."

"Kirijo Group?" the girl's friend repeated. "As in the Student Council President? Huh… Oh, that's right. They built this school, didn't they?" She shook her head. "Y'know, I've always wondered about that. Why would a corporation like that be involved in a high school, of all things?"

_Truth is,_ Minato admitted to himself, _I've been wondering about that myself. I know more about their shadier activities than I'd like, but I can't fathom what they could possibly have to do with education. There's obviously some connection, both to their business and to whatever created Tartarus, but I don't understand what._ He grimaced, a brief flicker of pain that he quickly banished from his expression. _This is the kind of time I wish I could still talk to Kisaragi-sama…_

"I don't know about that," the first girl admitted. "I kinda wonder about it, too. But my teacher did tell me a little about Mitsuru Kirijo, the Student Council President herself, the other day."

"Yeah? C'mon, don't keep it to yourself, spill!"

A laugh. "I'm getting there, I'm getting there… Anyway, according to my teacher, she's going to be moving overseas after she graduates from here. Going to college somewhere else, apparently; probably so she can run the Kirijo Group itself in a few years."

A whistle. "Wow, I never would've expected _that._ She's so different from the rest of us…"

"Isn't she? The crazy thing is, I hear she's actually living in the dorms. I mean, you'd expect a high-class girl like that to have a big fancy mansion or something. …Maybe her parents were really strict when she was younger?"

"I could believe it…"

The two passed out of hearing range-partly because Minato's pace had slowed. _Moving… overseas, huh?_ he thought. _Well, I guess that makes sense. The Kirijo Group does a lot of international business, so she could use the experience herself. But still… why does it bother me?_

_**Master?**_

…_No. It's nothing, Pixie. Senpai is Senpai; this is perfectly normal. And hell,_ he mused, _it's not like I haven't been around the block a few times myself. Probably will be again, after _I_ graduate. It just… feels a little strange, that's all._

* * *

After School

* * *

Making his way back to the dorm, the morning's ambiguity mostly forgotten, Minato examined the text message on his phone with some interest. His Senpai had requested his presence -and, he gathered, the rest of the team's- at the Command Room once he returned. The Chairman, apparently, was going to be stopping by.

_I wonder what's up? Ikutsuki never seems to turn up unless there's something important. For a "club advisor" he's pretty hands-off. I mean, yeah, we handle things pretty well ourselves, but you'd still think…_

Minato's train of thought slowed when he got close to the dorm. Yukari and Fuuka were already there, he noticed, but hadn't gone inside; instead, they were… petting a dog?

"Koro-chan, give me your paw," Fuuka instructed, holding out a hand to a medium-sized, red-eyed, white dog. A Shiba-Inu, if Minato wasn't mistaken. He didn't know dogs very well, but it wasn't exactly an obscure breed.

This particular Shiba apparently wasn't a stray, as it readily answered Fuuka's request, sitting up and lifting a paw much as a human would. "That's a good dog!" Yukari cooed, smiling at the canine.

…_Okay, I'm not sure I ever expected to hear _that_ tone from Yukari. But, then, dogs do bring out the softer sides in people. At least, people who don't outright hate dogs._

Crossing the last few meters separating them, Minato shoved his hands in his pockets and ambled over. "Hey, guys. …What's with the dog?"

The dog immediately turned to look at him, and he had the strangest feeling that the animal was examining him in a more than merely canine friend-or-foe fashion. There was an odd intelligence in those red eyes, which left Minato feeling just slightly uneasy.

The moment passed, the dog seeming to accept whatever he saw in Minato, and he promptly let out a bark of greeting.

"He was just walking down the street," Yukari said in answer to his question. "He came over to see us when we got here."

"Koro-chan, go say hi!" Fuuka suggested. When the dog complied, walking over to Minato, she continued, "His name's Koromaru. I usually see him sitting at the steps of Naganaki Shrine, but sometimes I've found him out this way."

"Huh." Minato knelt down, letting Koromaru sniff his hand. He'd never really been much of a dog person, but this one… Something struck a chord in him, somehow. Like the dog had seen some of the same things he had.

A ridiculous idea, of course.

"Oh, Koro-chan still goes for walks all by himself?"

The students collectively looked up to see a woman approaching, bag of groceries under one arm. "Still?" Yukari asked. "What do you mean?"

"He used to belong to the priest at Naganaki Shrine," the woman explained, nodding to Koromaru. "Every afternoon, they'd go for a walk down this way." She looked sad. "Well, until the priest passed away, anyway."

Fuuka winced. "He died?"

"Oh, you haven't heard the story?" The woman seemed more than happy to share, sparing Minato the legwork of trying to track it down himself. He _could_ have done it, of course, and would have out of sheer curiosity, but it was nice not to have to for once. "It was… let's see, about six months ago, now. The priest was out walking Koro-chan like always, and he was hit by a car. He… didn't make it." The woman sighed. "Ever since then, Koro-chan waits by the sight of the accident, like he's guarding it. And he still goes for the same old walk, every day."

…_I see. So you've lost someone to a car accident, too, huh, boy? That explains it. …Though how I could tell that, I don't know. It's not me, it's… something about Koromaru himself. But… what?_

"Oh, shoot! I'd better get going, my son will be back soon!" The woman hurried away, leaving just the students, the dog, and the sad story lingering in the air.

"Well," Yukari said, looking down at Koromaru, "you are one _very_ loyal dog, Koro-chan. Good boy!"

Koromaru barked happily in reply, and started off to continue his walk. As he went, though, Minato noticed Fuuka looking at the dog strangely. Her face was pensive, and she looked almost like she was listening to something.

"…Fuuka?" he prompted. "Something wrong?"

She twitched, shaken out of her reverie. "Hm? Oh, no, it's nothing. Um, we should probably get going. Mitsuru-senpai said we were supposed to meet up after school, right?"

She led the way into the building, leaving Minato faintly puzzled.

* * *

As expected, the Chairman was waiting for them in fourth floor Command Room, along with Mitsuru and Akihiko; Junpei arrived just after they did, looking vaguely disgruntled. Most of it was about as usual. Minato was even getting used to Junpei's odd change in attitude; if anything, he was just surprised at how often Ikutsuki had been turning up lately.

"I'm glad to see you're all here," Ikutsuki said, smiling as usual, once they'd all taken seats. "Now, this is nothing really urgent, so if you were worried, you can relax. Actually, if anything it's good news that I've got. I've been continuing my research on Shadows, of course, and I've adjusted my assumptions to account for the insight gained in the most recent operation. I'm still working on it, of course, but I thought you'd all like an update."

"We're all ears," Akihiko said, nodding. "What's up?"

"Well," the Chairman said, leaning forward, "I've been devoting more and more of my attention to the 'special' Shadows you've been facing about once a month. Now, it's a little complicated, so listen close… Shadows, as we already knew, fall into twelve distinct categories, labeled one through twelve. You all know this, right?"

Minato nodded thoughtfully. Mitsuru had explained to him at one point early on that the Shadows seemed to have some kind of odd relationship to the Major Arcana of Tarot. Only the first twelve Arcana appeared to match up, but within those, the Shadows bore eerie resemblance to the traits described.

Never having had much patience with fortune-telling, Minato had been just slightly unnerved by the idea.

"So," Ikutsuki continued, "I've been looking at the data we have on the four 'specials' you've fought so far, in relation to the Arcana, and, well, it's absolutely fascinating! I never would've guessed this!"

The team waited patiently, seeing the triumphant grin on the man's face. No doubt some kind of major revelation was imminent, something that would give them a deep insight into the battles they'd been fighting for months now.

They waited. Waited, and began to realize Ikutsuki was staring off into space, lost in thought about whatever was so intriguing.

Yukari finally coughed. "Um, Mister Chairman…?"

Ikutsuki started. "Oh, I'm sorry! I just got a little carried away in my own thoughts about… Anyway! The four 'Full Moon Shadows' you've fought thus far have all fit into that pattern. Specifically, the one that attacked the dorm was the Magician, the Priestess took over the monorail, and it was the Emperor and Empress that assaulted you at Tartarus just the other day. In short, Categories I through IV, in direct sequence. They may have looked unusual, and possessed unusual strength and powers, but they still fit the existing system."

He looked at them expectantly; but the first thing he saw was Junpei scratching the back of his head. "Um… so what?" he asked. "That supposed to mean something?"

_Of course. One through four, in order, on the Full Moon. There still isn't evidence to prove it, but-_

"I see what you mean, now," Fuuka said thoughtfully. "The first through the fourth, with no repeats. That suggests a total of twelve 'special' Shadows, four of which we haven't seen yet!"

"Exactly, Fuuka!" Ikutsuki confirmed excitedly, leaning back in his chair. "You're really very smart, you know that?"

_I know _I'm_ starting to realize that,_ Minato thought, seeing Fuuka blush faintly at the praise. _I didn't look much past "bully magnet" when I was sleuthing about, but you really do have hidden depths, don't you, Fuuka?_

"That's all well and good," Junpei complained, rubbing his head. "But we still don't know what the hell they're after, do we?"

"We're still working on that, yes," Ikutsuki admitted. "The greatest question about the Shadows has always been their motive, their purpose. We know that they attack humans and feed on their minds, but is it simply, instinctive predation, or is it part of some kind of calculated attack? We just don't know, and the behavior of these 'Full Moon Shadows' throws additional doubt onto the issue. Even more than how many there are, we really do need to know _why_ they are."

Minato was of two minds on that. On the one hand, he remembered Sun Tzu's admonition to know the enemy _and_ know yourself, that understanding the enemy was one of the greatest steps in learning to defeat them.

On the other hand…

"That's all very interesting and everything," Akihiko put in, cracking his knuckles. "Maybe even important, sometime. But right now, we still have to deal with them as they come. If past experience holds true, we've got less than a month before the next one shows up; whether we figure out their motivations or not, we'll have to fight them then."

"Akihiko's right," Mitsuru agreed. "Right now, the only thing we can do is take them out when they appear."

"Oh, I don't disagree," Ikutsuki said amiably, nodding. "That _is_ the most important part, and certainly what you all should be focusing on. You can leave the research to me, and I'll leave the fighting to you guys." He sighed. "I'm sorry to have to place all this on the shoulders of you young people, but so far you've been doing an amazing job."

"We'll manage," Junpei said confidently, the prospective of busting Shadows' metaphorical heads seeming to have cheered him up. "We haven't been beaten yet!"

"Still," Yukari murmured, looking at the floor. "At best, there's eight more of them, right…?"

"And according to the data, each one has been stronger than the last." Fuuka didn't look as down as Yukari, but she wasn't exactly cheerful, either. "We'll have to step up our training to keep up."

"We can do it," Mitsuru said confidently. "The Shadows aren't the only ones who have been growing stronger. Arisato," she continued, turning to look at him soberly, "I fully understand that you have… issues with your swordsmanship. Nonetheless, I must ask you…"

Minato nodded slowly. "I understand, Senpai," he said quietly. "I've already started retraining, and I've obtained a dedicated second blade." He paused. "I… think I can handle it, now."

He didn't elaborate. As close as he was getting to some members of SEES, there was still a noticeable gap between him and the seniors, and Junpei was… Junpei, especially lately. Then there was Ikutsuki, who, while nice enough, was still a distant authority figure.

Minato wasn't ready to talk to any of them about what had happened, nor even why he felt ready to use his preferred sword style again. It was… too soon, and too personal.

_Someday,_ he promised himself. _In the meantime, the important thing is for me to _do_ it. If the Shadows are getting stronger, I can't hold back._

He didn't miss the look Junpei gave him when Mitsuru singled him out, but he didn't really have time to dwell on it, either. Yukari's eyes were shadowed, and she was, just noticeably, looking askance at Mitsuru again.

"What about Tartarus, though?" the archer muttered. "Why does it exist? …There's too many things we don't know here…"

Minato _also_ didn't miss the gloomy, guilty expression that crossed Mitsuru's face.

_So. Theoretically twelve of these things total, eight of them still to come. If they follow the existing pattern, they come every Full Moon, which means as much as eight more _months_ of this, unless they double up on us again._

_We still don't know exactly what they're doing, and we don't have a clue _why._ And Senpai… Yukari's right about one thing. Senpai is definitely hiding something. Sooner or later, even I won't be able to just let that slide any more, and I'll have to start digging._

_Then there's Junpei. Argh… I'm going to bed. This is giving me a headache._

* * *

Monday, June 22nd, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Darkness. An alley that by day was filled with youth who disdained school and societal norms; by night, those who went even further. And by the Dark Hour, the Hidden Hour, filled only with coffins and puddles of blood.

Tonight… three youths walked among those coffins, seeking out one in particular. A tall, pale young man with no shirt and a heavy revolver tucked in his waistband; a slim youth in green, with glasses, a briefcase, and of all things a hand grenade. Picking up the rear, a stoic young woman in an elegant, Victorian-esque white dress, her red hair a sharp contrast to her otherwise pale semblance.

"Ah," the youth with the revolver breathed, peering at one of the coffins ahead. "I believe we've found what we're looking for… or should I say, _who."_

A flicker, in the eerie yellow light of the Dark Hour. The coffin vanished, replaced with a delinquent; he merely stood there a moment, uncomprehending. Then, blinking, he saw the coffins that surrounded him, and jumped in surprise.

"W-what the hell?!" the delinquent blurted, staring wildly about. "What the hell's this?! C-coffins?!"

The pale young man smiled. Yes, this was so typical; shock, incomprehension, disbelief… The reaction of those so sheltered they never knew what lay beneath the surface world that was their entire reality. The look of someone who never realized how much _more_ there was to the world, if they had but the wit to look deeper.

"Good evening," he called, leading his small group toward the befuddled teenager.

The delinquent spun. "Huh?!"

"Are you surprised?" the pale youth asked him gently. "Please, you shouldn't be. In actual fact, we _all_ visit this world every night, whether you remember it or not. It is nothing unusual, nothing to be shocked by…"

"Who the hell are you?!" the punk demanded, shaking. "W-what the _hell_ are you talking about?!"

The youth with glasses snorted contemptuously. "Your mommy never teach you any manners? You're supposed to introduce yourself first, before you demand someone else's name." Tucking the grenade into his pocket, he opened the briefcase, rummaged briefly, and came out with a single sheet of paper. "Here: name, age, address, all that stuff. This is you, right?"

The delinquent numbly took the piece of paper. Looking over it, his eyes widened. "What the hell…?" he breathed. "What… what the hell _is_ this? How do you know all this about me?!"

"That… is not your concern," the pale youth told him. "Nor, frankly, is it _ours._"

"That's right," the boy with glasses agreed. "Somebody's got a grudge against you, and they hired _us_ to deal with it."

The delinquent's eyes widened. "A grudge…? Who?"

"Sorry, can't tell ya. We're professionals, y'know."

Something seemed to click in his mind, and the punk shuddered in sudden fear. "N-no way… That stuff about a revenge website… the rumors are actually true?!" He started backing away. "No! No way! Why the hell would someone _do_ this?! I haven't even _done_ anything!"

"That is not our concern," the pale youth said again. "Your conception of right and wrong… That is completely irrelevant. Morality is relative; you have your ideal, and our client has theirs. The client being the one who hired us, _that_ is the closest morality to having any bearing on our actions." He idly reached down, and took the revolver from his waist. "People hear what they wish to hear, and only believe that which agrees with their own preconceptions…"

The delinquent stared at him. "No… no, this isn't… _No! Just stay the hell away from me!"_ Breaking free of his fear-induced paralysis, he spun and took to his heels, fleeing the eerie trio.

The pale youth lifted the revolver to bear, a slow, almost lazy motion. "You squeal _most_ magnificently," he said approvingly.

Then he pulled the trigger.

A scream echoed after the tremendous _boom_ of the gunshot, followed by a thud, and then whimpering.

"He's not dead," the girl in white said. Her first contribution to the night's discussion was cold, dispassionate; from her tone, an observer wouldn't know if she cared at all one way or the other.

"It doesn't really matter," the pale youth replied, tucking away the revolver. "The request did not specify alive or dead, merely… _punished."_

"Yeah. Tomorrow, this'll be just another random crime in a 'bad neighborhood'," the youth with glasses said dismissively. "Cops won't even notice. The news won't, either."

"The wonders of anonymity, and the Dark Hour," the pale youth agreed. "Still… if there's nothing else, I believe we should be going. I'm feeling rather tired, tonight."

The three departed, cold and silent as they'd arrived, leaving only coffins and one sobbing, badly-injured teenager behind them.

* * *

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009, Evening

* * *

_The Hagakure, huh? It figures he'd be here. The guy never changes, does he…_

Akihiko slipped into the popular ramen joint, and was unsurprised to see a distinctive maroon trench coat adorning one of the patrons at the counter. He knew a couple of different guys who wore long coats these days, but there was no mistaking _that_ one.

"Hi, how are ya?" the proprietor asked him, as the boxer slid onto one of the stools himself. "Just the one today?"

Akihiko nodded at the taciturn Trench Coat. "I'll have what he's having."

"You got it. One house special, coming right up!"

He waited until the proprietor was out of earshot, then slid his gaze over to his impromptu companion. "How the hell do you eat the same thing every day without getting sick of it?" he muttered, shaking his head.

Shinjiro Aragaki snorted. "Like you're one to talk. You always eat that protein garbage; at least my usual has something resembling flavor." He paused, taking a bite of his meal. "Do I even need to ask what you're here for, Aki? Not like I don't already know."

_Yeah, I bet you do. We've been over this time and again, haven't we? But I'm not going to just give up, Shinji. Not now, not ever._

Akihiko waited to respond until his food had shown up -accompanied with a standard warning about it being hot, like he didn't already know that- and even then, took the time to eat a couple of bites first. Rushing things wouldn't do any good, he knew, not with Shinji.

"…You still haven't made up your mind, have you?" he said at length, staring down into his ramen.

Shinjiro snorted again, more overtly dismissive. "I _knew_ that's what this was about… I've told you before, Aki: I _have_ made up my mind. The answer's no. Always will be."

"Don't dismiss this so easily," Akihiko countered. "Your power is too strong to be wasted like this, Shinji. It's _worth_ something."

"Like hell." The response was instant, reflexive. "My power's garbage, and you know it. Don't waste your time, or mine."

_Okay,_ Akihiko admitted to himself, _maybe that was the wrong tack. I should've known Shinji would still be hung up on that._

He took his time, getting to work on his ramen while he looked for a different approach to take. He, of all people, knew how stubborn Shinjiro could be, especially about this. His friend hadn't gone the life of the delinquent, hanging out all day behind Port Island Station, just on a whim, and that kind of life had to have left its own marks.

_But I still refuse to believe he's completely given up on things. On what it is we're fighting for. It wasn't disillusionment with what we were doing that made him give it up, so maybe, if I can prove to him that we're actually getting somewhere…_

"…It's not like it was when you were with us," Akihiko said finally. "We've recruited four new members; you've met three of them yourself, haven't you? They're still green, but they've done good work. We're more proactive than we used to be, and we've-"

"I told you before, and I'll tell you again," Shinjiro cut him off, still not even looking at him. "I'm. Not. Interested."

"Dammit, Shinji!" the boxer snapped, fighting to keep his voice down. "You're letting the past tie you down, when you could be actually getting something done! All you do is hang out around there, beating yourself up for something-"

"Oh, give it a rest already, Aki." Shinjiro took a last bite of his ramen, and shoved the bowl away. "I made up my mind a long time ago, I told you. I'm not going back."

Akihiko let out his breath in an annoyed hiss. "Dammit, Shinji, the past is done and gone. Bad as it is, letting yourself dwell on it all the time isn't going to help _anyone.."_

"Tch." His old friend stood, pushing away from the counter. "Don't give me that, Aki. You're not really one to talk about this."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Shinji snorted one more time, turning his back entirely. "You have to ask? Face it, Aki, you're no different than me. You think you rescued that girl just because it was the 'right thing to do'?" He began to walk away. "You're just as much about the past as I am. _I_ just admit it."

"Shinji!"

Shinjiro made no further answer, disappearing from view out the door.

_Dammit, Shinji,_ Akihiko thought, staring after him. _What the hell was that even supposed to mean? I mean, yeah, of course I haven't _forgotten_ Miki, but… I'm moving forward. I'm _doing_ something with my power._

_If you won't, sooner or later this is gonna destroy you. Don't you get that?_

* * *

Monday, June 29th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Hey, hey, did you hear? There's been a lot more cases of people falling unconscious! But this time, they've supposedly been found in pairs."

"In pairs? What, like double-suicide attempts? Weird that there'd be so many!"

"Beats me! …But hey, I don think I'd mind falling unconscious, if it was with someone I liked…"

"_I'd_ mind!"

"…Gossip as usual, huh?" Yukari sighed, catching up to Minato's stride as they approached the school. "I don't know what you think you're gonna get out of that, Minato."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? Listening to gossip?" He tapped his headphones. "I'm just listening to music on the way to school, that's all."

She scoffed. "Yeah, right. Minato, I figured out weeks ago that half the time your MP3 player isn't even _on_ when you're doing that. You're a bit too quick to notice when I reach you."

…_Perceptive,_ Minato admitted to himself. _And if she's realized it, Senpai probably has, too. Can't fool everybody all of the time, I guess._

"Okay," he said, "you got me. But really, sometimes they've got something good, or at least something that gets me asking questions. Helped me out when I was looking into Fuuka's situation."

"If you say so…" Yukari shrugged it off, and her expression sobered. "Speaking of what happened with Fuuka… it'll be the Full Moon in another week, won't it?"

"Yeah." It'd been on Minato's mind, too. Now that they were pretty sure there was a pattern, he'd stepped up training in preparation, yet remained uneasy. The last mission had almost gotten all of them killed, after all.

_We also went into that one unprepared,_ he reminded himself. _It was an ad hoc affair, nothing but improvisation from start to finish. This time, we at least shouldn't have to worry about being instantly separated._

"It's different every time, so I kinda wonder what we're going to be dealing with this time," Yukari mused. "There's still eight of them left, too… Guess we're going to have to fight them until they're all gone."

"Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," he agreed soberly. "They're way too dangerous to leave them alone."

"Isn't _that_ the truth." She shivered, remembering how utterly she and Mitsuru had been flattened last time, before Fuuka finally turned the odds in their favor. "But, beyond that… Have you ever thought of what happens next? Is that the end of it, or is there more?"

"I don't think there's any way to know." Minato didn't like admitting that, felt that it was almost an insult to his own family, but it was the truth. "We just don't know enough."

"Maybe." Yukari's eyes were shadowed. "Thing is, though, I think Mitsuru-senpai _does_ know something that we don't, and… It's been on my mind a lot lately. I don't like being kept in the dark."

_This, still, huh? Well,_ he thought guiltily, _I can't _really_ blame her. It'd be hypocritical for me to criticize Senpai over it, but that just makes it even worse, really, how much I'm hiding._

_**There **_**is**_** a difference, however, Master. Your past is not relevant to what is going on here, whereas Senpai's omissions almost certainly are. Yukari and the others do not **_**need**_** to know your truth, so keeping personal issues personal is hardly hurtful to them.**_

_**Hindu-chick is right, Master. Besides, **_Pixie pointed out reasonably, _**it's damn obvious Yukari and Stupei are both holding back on **_**their**_** issues, too. Maybe they're not as messed up as you are, but still, fair's fair, right?**_

They were almost to the doors now, and Yukari had noticed Minato's inner debate. "Never mind," she told him, sighing. "I know what you're gonna say about Mitsuru-senpai, so let's just drop it." She looked thoughtful. "So… Oh! Have you heard the rumors about the revenge website?"

"Revenge website?" Minato repeated, grateful for the change in subject. "No, that one's news to me."

"Well, supposedly, if you submit the name and address of someone you want revenge on to this website, they'll… take care of it." Yukari laughed, shaking her head. "Crazy, isn't it? The idea that people would be so obsessed…"

* * *

Morning

* * *

"Everyone understand the Lorentz force and the left-hand rule?" Takenozuka demanded, lifting his eraser. "Then I'm erasing the board! Oh," he added, once the material had been reduced to chalk dust, "I've erased it now, but it might be on the exam we're having in two weeks, so you might want to remember it!"

_Dammit,_ Junpei thought, slumping back in his chair. _If was gonna be on the exam, why didn't ya say so _first?_ …And did you _have_ to go and remind us of the exams in the first place?_

"Everybody got that? Good. Now, let's move on to free electron density. I thought about maybe doing an experiment, but let's just go over some questions for now. Hm…" The physics teacher hummed thoughtfully. "On page eight… We've just covered the first question, so let's skip that one and go to the next. Oh, but before that… Junpei, you're looking sleepy."

Junpei straightened instantly. _Oh, hell,_ he thought, ice flooding his veins. _Now what?_

"Let's see if you can answer this one, Junpei. Contact lenses work according to a certain physical law. Who was it that discovered that principle?"

_Dammit,_ he thought, starting to sweat. _Contact lenses? What the hell do I know about contact lenses? …Dammit, I know who _does_ know, don't I?_

Junpei started to slide his glance over to his right, but Minato was already speaking. "Leonardo da Vinci," he murmured, in that voice of his that somehow managed to carry clearly to Junpei without ever being noticed by the teachers.

He relayed the answer, and got an approving nod from Takenozuka. "Exactly right," the teacher confirmed. "A great many modern inventions are descended from the research and innovation done by Leonardo, centuries ago. Very much a man ahead of his time. Now, then…"

Junpei sat back down, on the one hand relieved to have survived the questioning. On the other… He could hear whispering from other members of the class, about how Minato had so easily given him the answer, and saved his hide.

Again.

_Dammit,_ he thought, yet again, shooting a glance at the SEES field leader. _He's always got the answer, doesn't he? Always comes out looking so cool… I run out ahead once, and people call me irresponsible; he jumps on the roof of a freakin' _moving train,_ and gets patted on the back! He scales down the side of Tartarus on a rope without a harness, and he _still_ gets kudos for initiative, not "recklessness"._

_What the hell is so great about Minato freakin' Arisato that I haven't got, huh?_

* * *

Evening

* * *

There was quiet in the dorm. Mitsuru was studying ahead for exams, Akihiko had seemed preoccupied about something for days, and Junpei had vanished into his room as soon as he got home; Minato, Yukari suspected, was currently on the roof. He'd been vanishing lately, she suspected to practice his Niten-Ryu someplace he wouldn't be disturbed.

That left the command room empty, and free for discrete use by Yukari.

"Sorry for calling you out like this," she said, as she and Fuuka took seats by the table. "I know we haven't known each other for very long, but…"

"No, it's no trouble at all," Fuuka assured her, smiling. "What's on your mind?"

"Well… you're good with computers and stuff, right?"

"…I know my way around a system, yes," she confirmed cautiously. "I mean, I wouldn't really call myself an expert, but yeah, I'm pretty good with them."

Yukari pursed her lips. "Okay… The thing is, I was doing some research into the school's history, and I came across something strange. About ten years ago, there were a large number of students recorded as absent at the same time. Now, the records say it was just illness, but… I've come across some things that suggest it wasn't quite that innocent."

Fuuka's eyes widened. "Things?"

The brunette grimaced. "Not a lot, but… I find it a little suspicious that it was around the same time as a major incident I already knew about. Have you heard anything about it?"

"No, it's news to me," Fuuka said, shaking her head. "Um, I never really paid much attention to anything that happened here that far back, so…"

Yukari wasn't surprised. As far as she knew, she and Minato were the only members of the group, besides of course Mitsuru, who had any particular connection to Port Island from that far back, and she was reasonably sure the bluenette swordsman was the _only_ member of SEES who had actually lived in the city at the time.

"I didn't think so, but I thought it was worth asking," she said now. "I know it was a long time ago, but it's still a little too strange for me to just accept. I've also heard that this is _not_ the first time Shadows have appeared…"

"You think there's a connection?" Fuuka asked, watching her intently.

Yukari shrugged. "I really don't know, but I think we _should._ I don't want to stir up any trouble," she added, shrugging uncomfortably, "but… Mitsuru-senpai always acts kinda weird any time anyone asks questions about Tartarus. There's _got_ to be something else going on."

"…I haven't been around her as much as you have, yet, but I've noticed that a little myself," the other girl admitted quietly. "But, um… Why not ask Minato-kun? He's supposed to be our group's 'detective', right?"

Yukari grimaced. That had, in fact, been her first thought, and she would've liked to have done just that. For all that he was pretty obviously hiding something very ugly from his past, she believed without question that he could be trusted. There was no one in SEES she felt could be trusted more, really, in a fight or with a secret.

_Which is exactly why I _can't_ ask him about this. He knows as well as I do that Mitsuru-senpai isn't telling us everything, but he's decided that he has no right to force her to reveal it before it's necessary._

"I can't," she said finally. "Minato knows as well as any of us, probably better, really, that there's more going on, but, well, you saw him that night. He basically told me that as long as he's keeping secrets, he can't fault Mitsuru-senpai for doing the same." Yukari sighed. "I actually do think he's looking into it himself, but right now he's not likely to tell us anything unless he thinks it's literally a matter of life or death."

Fuuka was silent for a long moment, seeming to reflect on something weighty herself. "…I've noticed that, too," she said at last. "Minato-kun is… complicated, Yukari-chan. The pain…" She shook herself. "Okay, I understand. I'll see what I can turn up, Yukari-chan."

Yukari smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Fuuka. I owe you one."

She was confused by one thing, though. _"The pain?" What's she talking about? I mean, yeah, we all saw him have that episode during the last operation, but she sounds like she's talking about something more than that. Like… I don't know._

_I wonder what's up with that?_

* * *

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

The roof, Minato reflected, really was an excellent place to work out. A nice, open space, and with the dorm being taller than the closest surrounding buildings, it would take someone especially nosy with a telescope somewhere else in the city to notice him spinning a pair of very real swords around late at night.

Important, that. He couldn't very well practice Niten-Ryu at the school gym, and the rest of the dorm was too cramped. Fortunately, the roof had the bonuses of a decent breeze, and a very nice view of the stars.

Having returned to his room for the night, he was polishing his blades at his desk when the Dark Hour arrived. He had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next, and saw no particular reason to make a fuss about it anymore.

"Good evening, Pharos," Minato said, the moment the light changed to the yellow of the Hidden Hour. He didn't look toward the bed, didn't even look up from Eurydice's gleaming steel; he didn't need to, anymore.

A chuckle was his reward for his savvy. "Good evening, Kyousuke. I'm glad you remembered." Pharos stepped into view, joining him by the desk. "Ah, you're making sure your weapons are in good shape? Then I guess I don't even really need to warn you, this time."

"Nope," Minato agreed, sheathing Eurydice. "I think I've got the routine down, by now." He turned his attention to his new sword, smoothly drawing Ophelia. "One week. Tanabata is a Full Moon night this year… I used to know a girl who would've been _very_ interested."

"I'm sure." Pharos looked at the swords with evident curiosity. "So, you're really ready to do that again? Even after what happened back then?"

_Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that he knows about that. This boy is surprisingly perceptive… Ordinarily, I think I'd be furious, but for some reason it doesn't really bother me. Maybe it helps to talk to someone who isn't connected to it?_

"I realized something, in that last battle," Minato said aloud, delicately applying oil to Ophelia's blade. "What happened back then… I can never undo. Can never forgive myself for. But if I let that force me to hold back, someday one of my friends might die because I _didn't_ draw my sword, instead of because I did. If that strength can save my friends, instead of kill them… then yes, I'm ready."

Pharos smiled. "Good! I'm glad to hear you say that, Kyousuke. Perhaps… perhaps soon you'll actually be able to move on, my friend." He faded, only to reappear back by the bed. "In that case, I won't worry too much about you this time. Just be careful, okay? I'll see again afterwards."

This time, he faded for real, leaving Minato, his swords, and his memories.

"Move on, huh?" the swordsman muttered, running a cloth down Ophelia. "Maybe…"

* * *

Friday, July 3rd, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Hey, can you _believe_ this? The last time I was out with my boyfriend, he actually tried to take me to Shirakawa Boulevard!"

"Wha-?! Ewww! Well, we sure know what was on _his_ mind, don't we? Shirakawa Boulevard; ugh, that's sick!"

"I know, right? We've only just started dating, but I'm already starting to feel, well, a bit 'ugh' myself! …Maybe I should just dump him. I don't wanna be _part_ of one of those stories. Y'know, the ones that go, 'A couple was found unconscious'…"

A laugh. "Oh, that'd be a riot, wouldn't it!"

"Ugh," Yukari commented, joining Minato in following the gossipers past the school gates. "I know what you said last time, Minato, but wow. What can you possibly get out of that?"

"That a lot of my schoolmates are knuckle-dragging barbarians?" Minato suggested weakly; he was feeling a tad queasy himself. "I don't know, though, something about that reminded me of… I don't know. Something."

"If this is another wild story about werewolves or something," she warned, "I do _not_ want to hear it, okay?" Yukari shook her head. "Anyway… It's a Full Moon in just a few days, isn't it?" She shifted uneasily. "Maybe it's just me, but… it makes me nervous."

"Me, too," he admitted candidly.

Yukari looked at him in mild surprise. "You? The guy who climbs on top of moving trains and swings off tall buildings?" She managed a smile. "Well, I guess I'm relieved by that, actually. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's worried."

_Just knowing that you're not the only one afraid makes you feel less like a coward,_ Minato thought, remembering a couple of hairy moments he'd had. _Whether you _are_ or not isn't the point. Perceptions. And knowing you're not alone can be the most important thing of all._

Better than Junpei's attitude, anyway. Minato was starting to worry about that guy again. He'd acquitted himself well during the June operation, but since then Junpei's attitude had started to remind him unpleasantly of the monorail incident. Minato didn't know what his teammate's problem was, but it was beginning to concern him, just a little.

"Well," Yukari said with a sigh, "I guess it doesn't matter if we're nervous or not. It'll still happen, and we're still the only ones who can do anything about it."

_Never fun being the indispensable ones, _he agreed silently. _Especially in a war nobody else even knows is happening. …Hell of a way to spend Tanabata._

* * *

Morning

* * *

Mister Ekoda was still looking notably subdued, and even a little jumpy; it made Minato wonder just what, exactly, his Senpai had arranged to have happen to the man. Alas, whatever it was didn't seem to have made the Classic Lit teacher any more _interesting._

"As you should all know," Ekoda said, giving an air that suggested his students had _better_ know, "there are many different theories about the author known as Murasaki Shikibu. For example, that the _Genji Monogatari_ was actually written by a different author entirely, or that 'Murasaki Shikibu' was actually a pen name used by _several_ authors…"

_Heh. Reminds me of the endless debates in the West about whether Shakespeare really wrote all his plays, et al._

"There's even the suggestion that Shikibu was actually a space alien. An intriguing theory, I will admit…"

Minato blinked at that one. _Space alien? Writing classic Japanese literature? …Why _bother?_ Unless it was part of an insidious plot to weaken Japan, generations later, by having its youth bored insensate by teachers droning on about it all._

"Anyway. Here's a simple question for…" Ekoda paused, looking over the assembled students. "Hm. Junpei, let's say: which currency bears a picture of Murasaki Shikibu?"

Junpei assumed his usual deer-caught-in-headlights look. "What?" he muttered, glancing about frantically. "I don't carry paper bills much… Minato-"

"Two thousand yen bill," Minato replied softly, still staring straight ahead.

"Exactly right," Ekoda said, when Junpei had dutifully repeated the answer. "I guess that was an easy one, wasn't it? Now, regarding…"

"…Thanks, man," Junpei muttered, not meeting Minato's gaze. "Saved my hide…"

The swordsman didn't miss his teammate's mixed reaction, and sighed internally. _Junpei, even I got lucky this time. It was in a trivia book I read a while back. You think even _I_ pay much attention to this stuff if I can avoid it?_

* * *

Monday, July 6th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

_Funny,_ Minato thought, inhaling the warm air of summer on his walk. _It's getting close to showtime, yet everything else seems perfectly normal. This past month didn't even have the tension and stress of an investigation into bullying and missing persons. We know the storm is coming closer, yet there's no sign…_

April had come upon him with barely any warning. May, he'd known about Shadows but had no way of expecting the Priestess. June, they'd all been so busy trying to figure out what happened to Fuuka, Shadows almost weren't even on their radar until it became clear she was in Tartarus; even then, they'd been considered a side issue until it was too late.

This was the first time the Full Moon was approaching with them all fully aware, and the way that knowledge contrasted with how utterly normal the day was left Minato feeling just a tad strange.

"Yo, Minato! Tomorrow's the big day, ain't it?"

Apparently, the feeling wasn't shared by the entire team. Junpei, jogging up to join him, was grinning like a maniac, his off and on animosity apparently set to "off" for now; the mulish look from Classic Lit the other day was nowhere in sight.

"Yeah," Minato agreed, adjusting his grip on his book bag. "Hell of a way to spend Tanabata, though, don't you think?"

"Hell, _yeah!"_ Junpei said, seemingly to completely miss the point. If anything, his grin grew wider. "I mean, yeah, I'm kinda nervous, got butterflies in my stomach an' everything, but damn, am I _stoked!_ We know it's coming, baby, and this time we're knocking it right out of the park!"

"Uh…"

The Man in the Hat didn't seem to notice Minato's ambivalence. "Yeah," he went on, "now I think I finally understand how Akihiko-senpai feels before he gets in the ring. Man, I can't _wait!"_

Somewhat to Minato's relief, Junpei's enthusiasm extended to his pace, and he was quickly ahead and out of sight into the crowd leading into the school.

_**Well,**_ Pixie contributed uncertainly, _**he's… confident, at least. Energetic?**_

_**Ready to be trounced,**_ Valkyrie groused. _**I fail to see sufficient improvement in his skills to justify his enthusiasm.**_

_**He risks requiring my services,**_ Pyro Jack interjected. _**Dangerous.**_

That last one puzzled Minato. If he remembered his -admittedly rusty- Celtic mythology correctly, a Jack-O'-lantern would've led to something to _cause_ someone's death, not been the one to lead them to the next life _afterwards._

_Yeah,_ he reminded himself, passing the school gates, _and in Celtic mythology, they weren't fragments of someone's psyche. The origin myth isn't exactly a precise guide here._

"Good morning, Arisato."

It was a credit to Minato's self-control that he only bounced up on his toes, rather than leaping a meter in the air like his reflexes wanted him to. "Good morning, Senpai," he replied, turning to face Mitsuru, who had once again managed to join him without notice.

"I see Iori is in good spirits," she noted, nodded at the figure just now disappearing into Gekkokan proper. "He remembers that tomorrow is the Full Moon, I take it?"

"Yeah," Minato confirmed. "A little too well, I think."

"Perhaps. Still, I think it's better for him to be enthusiastic than sullen… provided he remains cautious." Mitsuru tossed her hair, an absent, unconscious gesture. "I trust you're ready for it, Arisato?"

"As ready as I can be," he said. "All that's left is to wait, now."

"True enough," she conceded. "Still, with Yamagishi now on the team, we shouldn't have quite as many unwelcome surprises. Also, we won't be going in blind, like the June operation forced us to." The redhead sighed. "I must admit, I'm glad that it's tomorrow. We need to strike back, soon."

Minato nodded, having a pretty good idea of what she was talking about. "Yeah. I've seen more Apathy Syndrome victims around lately than I'm comfortable with. Well, not that I'm _comfortable_ with even one."

"Exactly. The sooner we take out the next Full Moon Shadow, the sooner those people will recover." Mitsuru looked at him somberly. "I'll be counting on you tomorrow night, Arisato. And in turn, my sword will guard your back."

The calm, firm assurance made Minato feel oddly warm. "My swords and I will do the job, Senpai. And my Personas. My word on it."

_I broke that word once. _Never_ again._

* * *

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Once again, the group was gathered in the Command Room, joined by Ikutsuki, with Fuuka standing at the front, facing the others. As with the previous operation, the SEES field team was decked out in full combat gear; the only notable changes there were Minato's addition of what looked like blue-tinted shooting glasses, and his second sword.

"What's with the glasses?" Yukari whispered. Fuuka was enveloped by her Persona, eyes closed as she scanned the city; until she found the target, there wasn't much for the others to do.

"Wind shear during the last operation," Minato replied quietly. "I'm not expecting a repeat, but it did get me thinking about eye safety."

"Huh. Good point…"

"_I've found it!"_ Fuuka declared suddenly. _"I'm still pinning it down, but… I definitely feel a strong presence!"_

Minato shivered. Fuuka's mouth hadn't moved in that entire statement, yet he'd heard her voice quite clearly. Where Mitsuru had needed specially-made radio to keep in contact with the team, Fuuka's power was great enough not to need intermediaries; she could send her voice directly to their minds, and in tests had done so over a distance of several blocks.

_I don't care _what_ else I've already seen in my life. Telepathy is _spooky,_ darn it._

The others either didn't share his feelings, or had other things on their minds just then. "Awright, we were right!" Junpei cheered, grinning. "Full Moon it is, baby!"

"Or so it seems, at any rate," Ikutsuki said, more sedately. "Fuuka, have you pinpointed it?"

The shy girl remained silent for several moments, her Persona pulsing just perceptibly. _"Just a moment… Yes. There's no doubt about it. There's a large Shadow, like the Emperor and Empress you fought last time, currently maintaining position at Shirakawa Boulevard."_

At first, that didn't really register for any of them. It seemed to ring a very faint bell for Minato, but he couldn't remember… _Oh. Oh, crud. I remember that part of town. The only part of town I'd be less likely to lead the team to, given a choice, than that damn alley behind Port Island Station._

Mitsuru visibly shared his disgust. "Well," she said, sounding mildly revolted, "that certainly explains the pattern we've been finding the Lost in, lately."

Ikutsuki nodded, seemingly unperturbed. "Yes, I would say that it does. Now we know why we've been finding them in pairs lately."

Fuuka dispelled her Persona, and looked at the rest of the team in bemusement. "Um, I have to admit I'm not familiar with that part of town. Is there something I should know?"

"Ah, it's nothing much," Junpei told her, his grin belying his words. "It's just where, y'know, 'those' hotels are. Not much else there, actually."

Yukari grimaced. "Oh, ugh. It had to be _that_ kind of place, didn't it? You've _got_ to be kidding me."

_No argument from me, Yukari. Damn. I've been to a lot of places I never wanted to go anywhere near, but I've at least never had to go to a borderline-_

Fuuka suddenly blushed, realizing what the others meant. "Oh," she breathed. "You mean, as in…"

_Brothel,_ Minato finished. _House of ill repute. Maybe not officially, maybe not run _as,_ but certainly designed _for._ "Ugh" really does say it all, Yukari._

"Oh, don't be silly," Ikutsuki said, with the air of a man desperately trying to change the subject. "They're perfectly ordinary hotels. Their furnishings are just a little bit fancier, that's all."

"Aw," Junpei lamented, head sinking. "Is that all?"

_Depends on how you define "fancier". Never been there, but Grandfather has had a few cases related to them, and from the tales _he's_ told…_

Mitsuru gave Junpei a very speaking look. "Whatever it is that you're thinking, Iori," she said, with deceptive mildness, "I suggest you forget it. Right now."

"Yeah," Yukari agreed, shuddering. "Actually, I'm not really sure I should even _go_ on this mission. This is just…"

The comment deflected the full strength of Mitsuru's chastisement, having engaged Junpei's Teasing Circuits as a kind of accidental armor. "Oh, yeah, Yuka-tan? What, you scared?"

_Dammit, Junpei. You _know_ what that'll…_

The brunette instantly stiffened. "In your dreams, Stupei!" she snapped. "Fine, then! I'll go… but if I'm going to sleazy place like that, I'd better be on the frontline this time!"

_Yep. Yukari's instant "don't call me scared" button. You did that on purpose this time, didn't you, Junpei?_

Mitsuru pursed her lips, but seemed to decide further admonishment was pointless. "Very well, then," she decided. "As we discussed over the past month, Arisato will remain as field leader. We'll go in with a team of four, with the fifth member staying back to cover Yamagishi." She nodded to the sensory Persona user, who lacked pretty much any combat ability. "I don't expect trouble for the support team, but…"

She didn't have to finish. They all remembered, entirely too well, what had happened last time. SEES was not likely to run _any_ operation without their support fully protected again. Even _with_ armed aid, it had almost been a catastrophe.

"Okay, Detective," Akihiko said, turning to Minato. "How do we play this?"

"Well, Yukari's coming," Minato said dryly, nodding at the fulminating look the archer still bore. "If you don't mind, Senpai, I'd like for you to join us, as well."

Mitsuru nodded, a small smile gracing her features. "Naturally. That was my intent." She rested one hand on her rapier. "You can count on me."

_I'm sure I can, Senpai. …Heh. Guess this time, there's really only one slot I need to "decide" on myself, hm?_

"Junpei," he continued, "you're in."

Akihiko raised an eyebrow, but made no comment at being left in the rear. Junpei made up for it, grinning widely. "Awright, man! Let's do this!"

Minato shot a significant glance at Akihiko, who nodded after only a moment. _It's not a compliment, Junpei,_ the swordsman thought. _I want you where I can keep an eye on you, that's all. I don't trust you to protect Fuuka unsupervised._

He didn't let the irritation that came with his thoughts onto his face, instead merely turning toward the door in a swirl of coat. "All right, then. SEES, let's move out."

* * *

Shirakawa Boulevard. Minato had been here exactly once before, when he was getting the lay of the land right after moving back to Port Island; it hadn't taken him long to realize the area was the local red light district, so coming back had not exactly been high on his priority list.

There were basically two kinds of businesses on Shirakawa Boulevard. The three-story "hotel" that SEES stopped in front of, with its outer wall and ornate, arched entryway, was the _more_ respectable kind. It even, almost, _looked_ genuinely respectable.

It didn't take Fuuka's Persona-based ESP to feel the wrongness associated with the place.

_Disgusting,_ Minato thought, staring up at the building. _Something so significant, so personal, so… intimate, and places like this cater to trivializing it._

_**Setting the whole place ablaze would not be difficult, Master,**_ Pyro Jack offered.

_Don't tempt me, Jack, I might just take you up on it. Damn, but if there's a place that _deserves_ to be infested by Shadows, this is it._

"So this is the place, huh?" Yukari said from beside him, audibly disgusted. "Ugh. Let's just get this over with."

"Agreed." Mitsuru was, as usual, more controlled, but Minato could hear the distaste even in her voice. "Yamagishi, you and Akihiko wait out here. Arisato?"

"Right." Minato moved ahead, grimacing, and pulled on the door. "Let's move in."

Inside, the feeling of primal revulsion only intensified. The hallways themselves seemed ordinary enough -though the occasional blood puddles by the walls made Minato wonder about the integrity of the roof- but something on the gut level felt _off._ A kind of sick, disturbed sensation that couldn't be quantified, but couldn't be denied either.

_And this place has _pay phones,_ of all things,_ Minato thought, glancing at a set of booths by the entrance. _I didn't think those things still existed._

"_I've pinpointed the Shadow,"_ Fuuka reported in his head. _"Please head to the third floor immediately; it seems to be in the largest suite up there."_

"Awright," Junpei said enthusiastically, drawing his katana, "let's do this!"

"Time to get it over with," Minato agreed grimly, and smoothly drew both swords from the scabbards on his back. "Field squad, moving out."

Leading the team down the halls and to the first stairwell, he did find one thing unnerving, beyond the inherent wrongness of the hotel itself. That he didn't see any coffins wasn't _too_ surprising; aside from the staff in the lobby, anyone here was likely to be in one of the actual "suites", especially this time of night. That was perfectly normal-but it was not the only thing the hotel was apparently empty of.

_Every previous Full Moon Shadow we've encountered has had regular Shadows around. The last one could be explained by it occurring _in_ Tartarus, but both the Magician and Priestess had lackeys, too. Here… there's absolutely nothing._

"Fuuka," he called, as they emerged onto the second floor, "are you detecting any Shadows besides the one we're heading for? Any at all?"

"…_Give me a moment, I'll check."_ There was a long pause, during which the team sped through another hall, turned a corner, and made for the next set of stairs. _"Well… I _am_ sensing something kind of strange, but now that you mention it, I'm not currently detecting any normal Shadows. Just the big one on the third floor."_

"Who cares?" Junpei retorted, rolling his eyes. "Just makes things easier for us, doesn't it?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No, Arisato's right: this isn't normal. Still…" She sighed. "I don't see anything we can do about it right now. Keep your eyes open, and keep going for now."

"Yeah," Yukari agreed, eyes narrow in a perpetual glare. "I just want to get this over with!"

_No arguments here. Still, this creeps me the hell out._

It was a trip of a few moments to reach and ascend the stairs, and then they were up on the third floor. The primal revulsion Minato had been feeling the whole time intensified on this floor; considering Fuuka's reference to the "largest suite", he had a feeling he knew why, and really didn't want to think about it.

_Saya once said these places reminded her of blood. I never did get around to asking her why._ He snorted internally. _Maybe she had to kill something at a place like this, too. Must've been _something_ she was doing with those skills of hers._

It didn't take long to find a conspicuously "different" room. Its door was fancier than any they'd seen on the way up, and it gave off a feeling that made Minato almost physically ill. "Okay, Fuuka," he said. "Let me guess: this is the place?"

"_Right through that door,"_ Fuuka confirmed.

"Crud. Okay, time to dance." Minato's hands being full of sharp pointy things, he nodded to Junpei, who grinned, took one hand off his katana's hilt, and pulled open the door.

Inside was about as bad as Minato expected. Spacious, with an oddly circular bed (with attached drinks counter), what looked like windows giving a clear view into the attached bathroom's shower, and a variety of fixtures that he didn't really want to think about. A hedonist's paradise, though at least the lack of coffins indicated it wasn't currently in use.

Oh, yes. There was also a fat man in a chair on the bed, with a disturbing semi-feminine shape attached to his back, flanked by a pair of strange white crosses.

"_That's the Shadow!"_ Fuuka announced. _"All of that is part of just the one. Be careful; its Arcana is Hierophant!"_

"I don't care _what_ its Arcana is," Yukari snarled, nocking an arrow. "That _thing_ forced me to come to this place, and I'm gonna make it pay!"

She let fly with the arrow, impacting sharply on the female torso in the back-at the same time that the Hierophant gurgled, and sent a barrage of lightning bolts back at the team, forcing them to dodge or be fried.

Dancing off to one side, Mitsuru uttered a French curse. Yukari let out a wordless yelp of her own when one of the bolts struck by her feet; her Io was weak to Electricity, if Minato remembered right. On the plus side, her arrow did disorient the Shadow, so none of the blasts got very close to Minato or Junpei.

Junpei took full advantage of the opening, rushing in to bring a wild but powerful slash down on the main body's bulk, provoking a squeal when the katana bit into pseudo-flesh. "Take that, ya freak!" he shouted, pulling the blade out and swaying back to set up for a backhand blow. "I'm gonna-"

The next burst of Zio-lightning caught him in the chest, lighting him up like a Christmas tree and blasting him backwards. Twitching, he yelled incoherently before hitting the floor and rolling into the wall.

Minato immediately rushed into the gap, then around to one side. His swords were out, but he did not strike, instead abruptly revering direction just ahead of another lightning strike, going the other way for a couple steps, then advancing again. His pace slowed, then picked up again, and he was darting toward the other side of the Hierophant.

While the Shadow as trying to target him, Yukari took the opportunity to send another arrow downrange, this time catching it in the mask that served as its "face". At the same time, Mitsuru abruptly dashed forward, her rapier tracing a flashing line in the air as she drove a textbook thrust into the Hierophant's bulk, pulled back, and unleashed a lightning-fast trio of back-and-forth slashes.

When she pulled back just ahead of another Zio strike, Minato swung back into view, and finally struck with his paired blades. A left, a right, then another left that left a black-bleeding gash-and took him into reach of the left-hand cross.

The cross promptly slapped in the face, sending him reeling back with a grunt of pain.

Junpei was back on his feet by then, twitching and with his hair beginning to stand on end. A grimace of annoyance on his face, he advanced again, this time going for the other cross. "You sunnova-! You're _so_ going to pay for that!"

This time, he managed to sidestep its attempt at frying him, and he put all his strength into a cleaving blow against its remote appendage. The katana, lighter than his old one but made of sterner stuff, bit into one of the "arms" of the cross and ripped it right off.

It squealed again, and fired off a spell in retaliation-but not at Junpei.

Yukari took the crackling lightning right in the chest, and with a scream flew back against the wall. She hit hard, slumped, and lay there twitching.

"Bastard!" Minato snarled, hurrying to place himself between her and the Hierophant. He inverted Eurydice in his grip, sank her point-first into the floor, and drew his Evoker. "You're going to burn for this… Pixie, heal her!"

The Fae Persona materialized at the call of his pulled trigger, obediently engulfing Yukari in a wash of cool green. At the same time, Mitsuru and Junpei charged the Shadow, the latter angling to take the other arm of his targeted cross, the former stabbing the main body, quickly stepping to one side, and stabbing again.

Minato took a moment, as Yukari's convulsions began to subside, to switch the ephemeral cards in his hand, before taking up his sword again. Lunging in once more, he stabbed Eurydice deep into the Hierophant's gut, and slashed down with Ophelia with all his might.

A squeal of pain became a guttural sound of rage, and the Hierophant tried something new. _"Watch out!"_ Fuuka warned. _"I'm sensing… Prophecy of Ruin…?"_

He had no time to wonder about her cryptic words before he was struck by what felt for all the world like a wave of pure, primal terror. Where he'd felt nothing but anger at the Shadow and fear for his friend, suddenly his mind was awash in nothing but terrified horror; in that instant, Minato was back in that warehouse again, this time without even a sword-

From the uncharacteristic sounds of fear from his Senpai and Junpei, he wasn't alone this time. They, too, were reliving something, filled with nothing but fear, the fear, the _fear…_

"_Please, snap out of it!"_ Fuuka pleaded distantly. _"It's all in your mind, it's not real! __**Please!"**_

Minato couldn't really hear her. He heard ominous chuckles, cries of pain, a desperate scream for him to flee; he saw a battered, bloodied detective on the floor, shouting curses at black-suited men with swords. He saw a girl in black and red, hair stained with blood, her eyes and teeth _changing,_ and there was nothing he could-

"_Stop it!_ Io, now!"

As quickly as it arrived, the cold terror was chased away by soothing warmth, the memories banished as if they'd never been summoned in the first place. Minato could see the dismal hotel again, and the hideously fat Shadow; he heard the voices of his comrades once more, not his enemies, not figures of the past.

Hurling himself backwards, away from the Hierophant, he turned to see Yukari back on her feet, a furious look on her face. She was just lowering her Evoker from her forehead, and Io was just fading from having cast a spell to counter the magical fear the Hierophant had induced. Shaking off the last effects of the lightning bolt she'd taken, the archer slowly holstered the Evoker. "Are you okay, Minato?"

"Now I am," he told her, quickly checking to see Mitsuru and Junpei also regrouping, shivering from whatever they'd relieved, but functional once again. "You have no idea how grateful I am right now, Yukari."

"You can tell me later. For now…" Yukari's eyes flashed. "Buy me some time, Minato. I've _had it_ with this thing!"

"You got it. Senpai, Junpei!" he called. "You guys ready?"

"Hell, yeah!" Junpei snarled, gripping his katana in white-knuckled hands. "Let's _kill_ that son of a bitch!"

"Give the word," Mitsuru said coldly, her expression frightening. "I have your back, Arisato."

As field leader, Minato was more or less in charge of strategizing for the team. Right now, though, he really only needed one command to get his point across. "Go."

Mitsuru instantly ran forward, engaging the cross that had slapped Minato earlier. A furious series of thrusts, the gap between each blow to short for it to retaliate, opened up wound after black-gushing wound, and a final slash of toned muscle driving Kirijo-made metal tore the entire top off it.

To one side, Junpei neither bothered with nor really needed the redhead's finesse. He just put every bit of power he could into his legs, jumped as high as the room's ceiling would let him, and drove his katana down as hard as he could through the top of the cross he'd previously "disarmed". Vertically bisected by the blow, it fell in two pieces and disintegrated into black smoke and ichor.

Minato paid little attention. He was busy resuming his earlier pattern of rapid, seemingly random changes of direction and velocity, only this time he was attacking every time he paused, never giving the Hierophant a chance to take advantage even of those tiny openings. _Jissen Kenbu,_ he thought, flashing back to when he'd been taught this style, years ago. _Actual-Battle Sword Dance. Deadly enough against a human, who can _think_ and potentially react._

_Against _this_ abomination…_

The quick, unpredictable series of attacks was too tiring to be used often, but it was certainly effective on anything that couldn't quite keep up with his movements. It also normally ended fairly spectacularly, yet Minato was only just beginning to reverse his grip on his blades when the point became completely moot.

"Go to hell!"

Accompanying the uncharacteristic outburst from Yukari was the _twang_ of her bow, and an arrow driven by all the power Persona gave her flashed across the room, embedding itself in the Hierophant's mask. It didn't stop there, either, tearing clear through the main bulk and the smaller figure behind it, to sink into the wall with a solid _thunk._

A squeal of pain, which became a scream of agony, and a howl of despair. The "chair" upon with the Shadow perched toppled over, and like its predecessors it was consumed by choking black smoke. Within seconds, it had been dissolved completely, leaving not even ichor to stain the bed.

Personally, Minato thought that last part was a shame.

"Nice shot," he said, when he had a chance to catch his breath. "Very nice."

Yukari smiled, blushing. "It made me mad, okay?"

"So I see," Mitsuru commented dryly. "Arisato's right, though. Very well done, Takeba." She flourished her rapier in the same salute she'd given Minato after the Emperor's defeat, and sheathed it in one smooth motion.

"Hell, that wasn't so tough," Junpei said, his heavy breathing belying the statement. "Nothin' compared to the last set, that's for sure."

_I can't actually disagree,_ Minato mused, spinning and sheathing his own blades. _It got a little hairy, but none of us really came _that_ close to dying, except when it tried that mental attack on us. It was… almost _too_ easy, actually._

"Fuuka," he said aloud, "is that it?"

"_I… think so, yes,"_ Fuuka replied, sounding a little uncertain. _"Please return now."_

"You got it, Fuuka!" Grinning, Junpei moved to throw open the door again-and paused, his hand on the door handle. "What the…?"

"What's wrong, Junpei?" Yukari asked, teasingly. "Too tired to open a door?"

"Like hell!" he shot back. "The damn thing _won't_ open!"

_Uh-oh._

Minato quickly crossed over to him, and an experimental push confirmed Junpei's assessment. "That… isn't normal," he murmured. Mulling it over, he focused his gaze on the door itself; his eyes widened then, because he couldn't gain any insight from it. He could _see_ the door, but his odd analysis ability wasn't telling him anything at all about it.

So far, no normal material had been blank to him. Which meant…

"_I'm sensing a Shadow again!"_ Fuuka announced. _"It's not the one you just defeated; there's another one there! I think that's what's holding the door shut!"_

Mitsuru muttered something under her breath; Minato thought it was French, and probably uncomplimentary. "I thought this seemed too easy," she added. "We'd better regroup. But first, we need to find a way _out_ of here."

"No argument here."

A quick search of the room revealed nothing they didn't already know. A bathroom -which, to judge from the windows, was _not_ intended simply for "normal" bathing- a completely separate toilet stall, and no other noticeable exits of any kind.

_Hell, this place doesn't even have any windows to the outside. Just the voyeur-shower windows._

The clock, metaphorically, was ticking. The Dark Hour paused normal time, but within itself lasted only for sixty minutes, and while the end of it would presumably end the Shadow's interference with the door, they had no idea what would happen with the _Shadow_ if it wasn't killed on the night on which it appeared.

Given that the only lead they had was killing those specific Shadows, potentially letting one escape was _not_ an option.

Minato was starting to get very worried indeed when his gaze happened across the large mirror mounted on one wall. He'd paid it no mind at first, in part because he _really_ didn't want to think about what it was probably for, but now he had his Analysis running; under that, the mirror suddenly changed from being normal to being an odd blank in his perceptions.

"Guys?" he called, his eyes still glowing an eerie silver. "That mirror… it's not normal. I can't read it."

"Huh?" Yukari paused in her examination of the shower, and made her way over to the more reflective glass. "Hey… you're right. Something _feels_ weird about this, and… Huh. I don't know about you, but I can't see my reflection…"

She trailed off. The mirror was beginning to perceptibly _glow_-

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly, dully. The first thing to come back was a feeling of softness, under his back; as tired as he was, that felt very nice, actually. He kind of wanted to stay there, really, though it seemed a shame to…

_A shame to what?_

Hearing faded back in about then. At first, all seemed silent, not even the sounds of traffic that he vaguely thought should've been there disturbed the peace. Then, gradually, he realized he could faintly hear the sound of running water; the realization that it sounded remarkably like a shower running came concurrent with the understanding that he was lying on a very comfortable _bed,_ and brought with it greater understanding.

_Ah, yes. A shame to waste this nice, cozy bed without any company…_

Minato slowly sat up, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of the room. Yes, it was a hotel room, with a soft, round bed. He vaguely recalled that he'd come there for a purpose, one that had seemed important at the time, but right now he couldn't really bring himself to worry about it.

More interesting, he thought, was the row of windows along one wall. As he slipped off the heavy coat he was wearing -it really _was_ too hot for the thing, after all, and what did he need with a coat in a place like _this_?- he realized that the windows looked in on a shower room adjacent to the bedroom. It was, indeed, a shower he'd heard, and…

There was someone in it. There was too much steam to see clearly, but there was a clearly feminine shape in there, with bright red hair. He couldn't see much, but something inside him told him to keep watching; as he did, figuring there was, right now, really nothing more important, the figure turned off the shower, reached for a towel, and walked out of sight.

_Something… isn't right here,_ he thought, in the moments the woman was out of view. _I… I'm supposed to be…_

_Does it matter? That's Senpai in there. There's no need to worry. I should just be enjoying the moment… shouldn't I…?_

Minato tossed the coat off to one side-and the bathroom door opened.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

Yes, a cliffhanger. I am evil. Still, my chapters are coming a bit faster now, so it won't be evilness for very long.

Let me say up front that I don't like how this chapter turned out. The pacing feels wrong, and it's mostly slice of life, with almost nothing to serve as a "hook" until the very end. I deeply apologize for that, and can only say that I think I'll be able to get away from this "too close to the game" format starting not long after this. I'm starting to recognize the main problem I'm having, and from the aftermath of this onward, I should be able to include a lot more "original" content and greater twists on the canon stuff.

That said, a few other points I feel I should address now. To start with, I must thank **afterados** for making some cogent points of criticism, and for doing so _politely._ Based in large part on that reviewer's critique, I've made some small but important edits to Chapter VII, which you should be seeing about the time this chapter goes up.

Now, to avoid any more confusion or unnecessary angst, let me clarify a couple of things about this story. First of all, Minato Arisato is very much an Unreliable Narrator. Probably ninety-nine percent of what he says, particularly his hints of off-screen badassness in his past, consists of either metaphor or trolling. He likes to mess with his friends a little, and he's well enough read that he applies significant metaphor to the stuff he really _did_ do.

So. Without spoiling exactly what's happened to him, I will say here and now that Minato is directly connected to exactly two other 'verses, one of which is just about pure backstory, the other of which will primarily come into play in the sequels. He has not "been everywhere, done everything, knows every useful skill on the planet", he's just been in one or two genuinely bad places, and likes to tell tall tales.

Tl;dr: Minato had a really bad day once, is a sarcastic-but-friendly troll, and has read a lot of mythology.

That said. I dropped a couple more clues about what Minato is getting mixed up in in later times. Hint: semantics are important.

And no, it's not _Rurouni Kenshin._ I'm using it as a source for fighting styles -partly Rule of Cool, partly convenience- but otherwise it has absolutely no bearing on the plot. As awesome as such a crossover might be.

This chapter was delayed in large part to the installation of an air conditioner messing with my energy levels for a couple days -I am _not_ a morning person!- so hopefully the next chapter will be up a little faster. In the meantime, I hope this one wasn't as bad as it honestly feels like to me. -Solid


	9. Chapter IX: This Never Happened

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009, Dark Hour

* * *

Minato's heavy coat landed on the bed, taking with it his swords -_Eurydice… Ophelia… those mean something… don't they…?_- but he paid it all little mind once they'd left his grip. His attention was completely focused on the figure emerging from the hotel room's bathroom.

Red hair, a slim body curved in all the right places, damp from the shower and concealed only by a towel. It was, as he'd thought, his Senpai, and if the sultry smile that spread across her face wasn't an expression he was used to seeing from her, well, it wasn't like he was going to complain, was he?

_That's right,_ a voice whispered in the back of his mind. _The other girls… they're not like Senpai, are they? She's so much smarter, so much more beautiful… and she's right here, waiting for you…_

Mitsuru's dark, half-lidded eyes met Minato's gray. "Fancy meeting you here tonight, Arisato," she whispered, slowly walking toward him. She lifted one hand to brush her wet hair out of her face, the motion just incidentally causing the towel to slip a few centimeters.

_**Master, this is not right. Master, please, **_**listen…**

_This is _exactly_ where you want to be,_ the original voice whispered, overriding the faintly familiar one. _This is what you've wanted, all this time…_

"Good evening, Senpai," Minato said, in a voice that seemed not quite his own, and came to his feet.

"Yes," Mitsuru agreed, stopping less than a meter from him. Still smiling, a hazy look in her eyes… "Yes, I think this will be a _very_ good evening, don't you agree, Arisato?"

_**Master,**_ the other voice in his head said insistently, _**you must come to your senses. This **_**cannot** _**be allowed to continue!**_

"I can think of a few ways to spice up the evening," he said aloud, smiling with deliberate mystery. His hands went to the collar of his dress shirt, and he slowly began unbuttoning it.

"Oh," Mitsuru said, voice low and husky, "I imagine you can…" Her smile widening, she reached up, tugged, and let the towel fall to the floor. "I can… think of a few things myself, Arisato. If… you have the courage to take a chance."

Minato stared openly, speechless at the sight of his Senpai's body. Smooth skin, shiny from the shower, taut muscles that she showed off in a slow, deliberate turn. Everything he'd always, in the back of his mind, half-wondered lay under her uniform, on full, unabashed display. As Mitsuru turned to face him again, still smiling, and began to close the remaining distance, he found himself lifting one hand toward her chest; something she saw, and leaned toward…

He'd never gone this far before. Not even, back then, with Saya-

_Saya. Saya Kisaragi._

Another smiling face, with deep red eyes, framed by waist-length black hair, filled his mind's eye. A face he hadn't seen since-

_Forget it,_ the voice in his mind whispered insistently, as his hand neared Mitsuru's bare breast. _That's in the past. Your lovely Senpai is here, within your grasp; Saya is…_

_**Saya is **_**dead!** another voice screamed in his head. _**Dead and gone, dead because of **_**you!**_** And you're about to disgrace **_**everything**_** you ever had with her, Master!**_

The whispering, beguiling voice was blown clear out of Minato's mind by Orpheus' rage-filled call. The fog vanished from his mind, clarity returning with abrupt suddenness-just as his hand landed on Mitsuru's body.

The haze disappeared from her eyes at that moment, the seductive expression leaving her face like someone had flipped a switch. Confusion replaced lust, for just a moment, then realization, and anger. "Arisato!" Mitsuru snapped, recoiling backwards. _"You-!"_

At another time, Minato might've been impressed by the fact that Mitsuru invoked her Persona without use of an Evoker. Another time, however, he wouldn't have been rendered mute by the conscious realization that his Senpai had very nearly just gotten into bed with him, naked; and another time, he wouldn't have been the target of the ice that engulfed his legs even as he frantically tried to turn away.

Managing, somehow, to turn to the bed despite his feet being frozen to the floor, Minato had a flash of inspiration. Snatching up his coat, he flung it behind him. "S-sorry, Senpai!" he yelped, voice a higher pitch than he would ever admit to being capable of. "I… I didn't mean-!"

The creeping cold had only reached his knees when he heard the sound of his oversized coat being hurriedly dragged on and fastened. As quickly as the supernatural ice had appeared, it began to recede, freeing him to make good his turn toward the nice, inoffensive wall; almost overkill by then, since his safety glasses were now covered in _frost._

"…Arisato," he heard then, in a low, dangerous voice, "do _not_ look."

The warning, Minato thought, was fairly unnecessary. He did _not_ have a death wish, and coat or no coat, he didn't want to risk seeing Mitsuru that way again just now. The sound of the bathroom door making clear that she'd gone out of sight didn't really make him feel any better.

Now he had a fairly good idea of what Mitsuru meant when she threatened "execution". It _still_ wasn't what had most rattled him about the encounter.

_Thank you,_ Minato said silently to his Personas. _Thank you all._

'_**Twas necessary,**_ Valkyrie said gruffly. _**No thanks required. Vengeance, however, I shall insist upon!**_

_**Not gonna quibble with the Norse Lady on **_**that**_** one, Master,**_ Pixie said, uncharacteristically jittery. _**I know what I've said, but that… that was…**_

Orpheus made no comment, but Minato hadn't really expected one. He knew damn well what _that_ Persona represented, by now, and did not expect to hear from him again unless and until specific crisis conditions emerged. _This_ situation was extremely unlikely to rouse comment.

"_Minato-kun?"_ he heard then. _"Minato-kun, Mitsuru-senpai, can either of you hear me?"_

"I hear you, Fuuka-chan," Minato replied, shivering, just a little proud that his voice was level.

"_Thank goodness!"_ The relief in Fuuka's mental voice was palpable. _"I've been trying for the last ten minutes to reach you, but something was blocking me. I did eventually reach Yukari-chan and Junpei-kun, but you were…"_ She paused. _"Um, is Mitsuru-senpai there?"_

* * *

Mitsuru clutched Arisato's heavy coat more tightly around herself as she closed the bathroom door. A very distant part of her mind noticed that a full-length duster weighted down with two layers of Kevlar and titanium chainmail was not as easy to wear as its owner made it look. That distant thought was very much overshadowed by the events of the moment, however.

_It was only the Shadow's influence,_ she told herself firmly, hurrying to wear her clothes had been left when she appeared in this place. She'd more or less materialized right in the shower, as far as she could tell, but the Shadows had apparently been "nice" enough to leave her uniform within reach. _Neither of us actually _meant_ to do that. I… we would never…_

Dropping the duster and quickly pulling on her own clothing, Mitsuru couldn't help but dwell on what had just happened, and what else had _almost_ happened. Under what she could only assume was the influence of whatever Shadow had still been present after they killed the Hierophant, she and Arisato had both…

She shivered. Her knee-jerk freezing aside, she knew perfectly well that Arisato was no more likely to try to seduce her than she was to do… what she'd just done. It wasn't his fault, any more than it was hers, and the offer of his coat was much more in line with the gentlemanly behavior she was used to from the swordsman.

Which did not, unfortunately, change the fact that it _had_ happened. Mortified didn't _begin_ to describe how Mitsuru felt, and it was compounded by a sick sensation from the realization that Arisato had seen more than just bare skin. Given his inquisitive bent -and demonstrable talent in the area- there was little doubt in her mind that he would realize the significance right away.

_And if he decides to investigate… No. He hasn't pushed me about Tartarus yet, even though he _has_ to know I've been lying to him about it. He'll wonder, but he won't pry about this, either. Just as I won't pry about the claw marks I saw on _his_ chest, or the sword scar on his stomach…_

Mitsuru finished buttoning her blouse, and reached for her gunbelt. All right, mutual secrets would most likely still be kept, but that still left the small matter that they'd nearly slept with each other, albeit under outside influence.

Intellectually, she'd recognized from the day he arrived that Minato Arisato was an attractive young man. He didn't exactly go out of his way to emphasize it, and his habit of wearing heavy clothing -like his armored coat- tended to conceal it some, but he didn't really deliberately hide it, either. Even so, Mitsuru had never paid much mind to his looks, being more interested in the mystery he represented and the potential advantage he gave SEES.

She didn't think she'd ever be able to look at him quite so objectively again. The simple thought of going back out there and facing him, right now, so soon after he'd seen her completely-

"_Mitsuru-senpai?"_ Yamagishi's voice called in her head. _"Can you hear me?"_

"I'm right here, Yamagishi," Mitsuru replied, forcing her voice as level as she could manage while still blushing like a tomato. She finished buckling her belt, took a deep, shuddering breath, and leaned against the nearest wall. "Have you gotten in touch with the rest of the team?"

"_Thank goodness… Yes, Senpai, I've made contact with both Yukari-chan and Junpei-kun. I was only just now able to reach you and Minato-kun, though."_ Yamagishi paused. _"Um… did something happen?"_

"Nothing at all," Mitsuru said, a little too quickly and too sharply even to her own ears. "We're all right," she went on, more naturally. "We'll regroup with the others momentarily. Can you find the remaining Shadow?"

"_It seems to be in the room where you fought the Hierophant,"_ the other girl answered. _"Unfortunately, the area seems to still be sealed; you'll have to break whatever force was holding you in before. I think it's linked to some kind of physical object within the hotel, but I can't narrow down exactly what."_

"We'll deal with that, then. Thank you, Yamagishi."

Taking another deep breath, Mitsuru walked back toward the door to the main room, picking up Arisato's coat along the way. She was _not_ ready to go out there again yet, but they didn't have time for her to be "ready". This… distraction… had already cost them precious time. Personal feelings would have to wait.

When she returned to the bedroom proper, she only allowed herself a brief glance at Arisato before turning away; just long enough to confirm he'd fastened his shirt again, not long enough to risk meeting his eyes. He was staring oddly intently at one of his swords, and had the distant look she'd come to associate with him conversing with his eclectic mix of Personas.

He was not looking her way, and only seemed to notice she'd returned when she tossed his coat back to him. He didn't speak even then, though she heard him slipping the duster on and slinging his blades over it again; he seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move.

"Arisato," Mitsuru said at length, still not looking at him, "apology accepted. And if you ever speak of this to anyone else, you _will_ be executed."

"This never happened," Arisato agreed, voice very soft.

"Then let's go. I want to _finish_ this."

Leading the way out of the hotel room, Mitsuru was perturbed by a sudden recollection of Arisato with his shirt open, and an accompanying, inexplicable lurch in her stomach.

…_I didn't tell him never to mention it to _me_ again,_ she realized abruptly, as she went out into the hall. _Why did I…?_

* * *

Junpei Iori was _not_ having a fun night. Ordinarily, he actually enjoyed fighting Shadows. It was quite a rush, being the next best thing to a real-life superhero; it was risky, yeah, but only enough to be thrilling, not enough to be _really_ scary. Well, yeah, there were a couple moments on the monorail, a brief time in the June operation before Fuuka turned the tables, but generally, it was a blast.

This operation was shaping up to be one _hell_ of a lousy night. It had started off bad, with oh-so-perfect Minato _still_ being chosen as leader, despite the shakeup in the team. Mitsuru-senpai, he'd have understood; she really _was_ more experienced, so having her take over would've been reasonable, and softened things a little. But no. Minato _freaking_ Arisato, who really had no more experience than Junpei did -_Hell, not as much as Yuka-tan!_- was left in charge like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Someone who did things like fight on top of moving trains and _rappel down Tartarus_ was, in Junpei's book, not that different from him, yet everybody acted like Minato was special, while Junpei was some kind of loose cannon.

That was bad enough. Getting struck by lightning hadn't improved his mood, even if he'd been able to shake it off pretty quick. The strange mental attack that the Shadow had used had _really_ messed with him, bringing back memories of yelling, tears, and broken bottles that he'd just as soon never think about again.

Then, to top it all off, it was _Minato_ who'd spotted the damn mirror that had subsequently knocked them all out and teleported them somewhere. No, wait, that _wasn't_ the capstone of the evening's humiliations.

No, that would be the aching between his legs, one Junpei was only barely able to work past as he and Yukari ventured away from the room they'd woken up in, heading to where Fuuka had told them their fellows were waiting. It hurt one _hell_ of a lot more than the Hierophant's lightning bolt had, and wasn't going away as fast.

_Like it was even my damned fault,_ Junpei seethed internally. _It wasn't _my_ idea to fling us into a hotel room together, and I'm damn sure _I_ didn't strip her! It was the damn Shadow, so why do _I_ have to get kicked where it counts?!_

Yukari had, sort of, apologized, but then she'd gone on to threaten him with grievous harm if he ever mentioned the incident again, and hadn't said a word since.

Junpei was still seething when Minato and Mitsuru came into view. They were just emerging from the stairwell, having apparently been sent to the first floor; Minato was, in fact, in the process of killing a Shadow that had followed them up. His twin swords stabbed out in a quick flurry of slashes and thrusts, then spun around and back into their scabbards when the Shadow disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He and Mitsuru were looking a bit awkward, but otherwise the Kirijo heiress seemed angrier at the Shadows than her impromptu partner, and Minato mostly had the same, infuriating look of "just another day at the office" that he usually did.

_Bet_ they_ had some fun,_ Junpei thought acidly. _Those two are like two peas in a pod. I wonder just what _they_ did when…_

"Takeba, Iori," Mitsuru noted, once they'd gathered at the top of the stairs. "You're all right?"

"Nothing to worry about, Senpai," Yukari said firmly, pointedly not looking at Junpei. "But it looks like there's normal Shadows here now, too…"

"So I noticed," Minato commented dryly, the exercise of his sarcasm muscles seeming to smooth out his remaining unease. "Not a problem, though. Fuuka-chan?"

_And he's even callin' her "chan",_ Junpei thought, rolling his eyes. _Seriously, he could have any girl he wanted, but he gets mad at _me_ just for sayin' a girl looks good…_

"_The remaining Shadow is definitely in that same room,"_ their support reported. _"I'm still working on how to break the seal, though. I can feel that some objects have the same aura of power as the Shadow, but I'm having trouble pinning down exactly what…"_

Minato had a thoughtful look on his face; Junpei noticed, somewhat to his own irritation, that the blue-haired swordsman's eyes were glowing again. "Actually… I have a hunch about that. Give me a second." Without further ado, he ducked into one of the nearby rooms; he was gone for a few seconds, then back out and heading for another.

Yukari blinked. "Senpai…?"

Mitsuru was clearly just as puzzled. "Arisato?" she called. "What are you-"

A crash came from the hotel room, and Minato exited a moment later, sheathing Eurydice-and brushing a bit of broken glass off his sleeve. "The mirrors, Senpai," he reported. "Remember the one in the Hierophant's room? Some of these mirrors don't reflect the viewer, and they don't show up to my 'Eyes' either."

"_Minato-kun is right!"_ Fuuka said. _"There was definitely a reaction when that mirror was destroyed. I think there's one more of them on that floor, and two on the one above."_

Mitsuru nodded sharply, lips pressed in a tight, flat line. "Good. Then let's find those mirrors, and finish this operation. _Now."_

Junpei hardly took note of the senior's uncharacteristic anger. His teeth were just grinding too loud. _And once again, Minato is the hero of the day,_ he thought resentfully, trotting along in the duster-clad show-off's wake. _Of _course_ he's got the answer. Just what the hell are the rest of us here for, huh? To be a cheering section?_

_To _hell_ with this._

* * *

"I hope they've got good insurance," Arisato quipped, as the last mirror shattered. "Last I heard, mirror-quality glass wasn't exactly cheap."

"_That's got it,"_ Yamagishi reported. _"The seal on the room where you fought the Hierophant should be broken now."_

"I don't _care_ about their bills," Takeba muttered, once they were back in the hall. "I'd be just as happy is this whole place burned down."

Inwardly, Mitsuru couldn't really disagree with her kohai's gripe. She wasn't exactly fond of places like this to begin with, and after tonight, she didn't think she'd ever be able to even pass by one without wanting to burn it down herself.

At least Arisato was back to snarking. Having him acting normal helped put things back in perspective for Mitsuru, as well; to pretend like nothing _had_ happened here, as if nothing had changed at all. Right now, it was easy to think that this was just another mission, which had run a bit long.

In the back of her mind, of course, she knew it wouldn't be that simple; she was more than a little concerned about what kind of dreams she'd be having once she finally managed to get to sleep, and she was _definitely _going to be thinking very hard about…

_Later,_ Mitsuru told herself firmly. _Right now,_ _we have a Shadow to finish off._ Her teeth clenched so hard she thought they might actually break. _And I will put it right through the _wall_ if I have to._

It wasn't exactly a long trip from the room with the final mirror to the "special" suite where they'd killed the Hierophant only minutes earlier. "I am _so_ tempted to just break down the door," Arisato muttered, reaching for the doorknob. "After everything…"

"Arisato," Mitsuru interrupted, eyes narrowing.

"I said I was _tempted,_ Senpai," he said raising a placating hand. "Not that I would-"

"Break it down," she interrupted again. "Now."

Normally, Mitsuru was all in favor of minimizing damage during the Dark Hour; after all, part of the point of these operations was to make sure no civilians noticed what was going on, and potentially panic. Besides which, causing general havoc just wasn't what well-mannered people ought to be doing.

On the other hand, they'd already been forced to break several mirrors tonight, so what was one door? After what the Shadow had put her through, Mitsuru thought a little gratuitous destruction would be cathartic.

Arisato gave her one long, searching look -the first time he'd met her eyes since the Incident, she realized- before smiling faintly. "Okay. I can do that."

Turning back to the door, he set himself, tensed his muscles, and _kicked._

Mitsuru knew that kicking a door down was not nearly as easy as popular culture made it out to be. She also knew that Minato Arisato was an athlete, who'd learned faster than any of them how to use Persona to further enhance his physical abilities.

A door in a mere love hotel was no match.

The four of them followed the door in a rush, even as the impromptu projectile hit the Shadow and bounced. As there was, indeed, a Shadow there again, they came to a halt in defensive positions almost immediately. Like the Hierophant, it was hovering directly over the bed, with implications Mitsuru did not care to think about.

"_There it is!"_ Yamagishi announced unnecessarily. _"Be careful, its Arcana is the Lovers!"_

"Somehow, Fuuka, I think we coulda guessed that!" Iori said, drawing his katana. "Damn, but that ain't right!"

Mitsuru couldn't really disagree with him. The Lovers Shadow, the anthropomorphic representation of the Sixth Arcana, was a giant, floating, three-dimensional heart-shape, with fanciful wings. The mask attached to the top, and the spikes protruding from its body, gave the lie to its otherwise "romantic" appearance.

Inside it, slowly tumbling over and over, were shapes like the arrows used to denote "male" and "female". More implications that Mitsuru didn't want to think too deeply on.

"_It's definitely the source of the mind manipulation,"_ Yamagishi called. _"I recognize the feeling from the interference I got earlier."_

"Well. That's a hell of a thing," Arisato commented, cautiously drawing both swords again. "Senpai, I think that's one heart that really needs to be broken."

_Bad puns. Right now, I'll take what I can get._ "Agreed," she said aloud, voice a low growl. "Let's finish this!"

Technically, she supposed, Arisato should've given the instruction, as he remained the field leader; right now, though, he seemed entirely content to simply back up her orders. "Give it everything, guys," he barked, eyes locked on the Lover. "Don't hold anything back."

Mitsuru's rapier materialized in her hand, Takeba nocked an arrow, and Arisato and Iori rushed right in. The latter didn't bother with finesse, simply charging with katana raised over his head; the former slipped into the odd, seemingly random pattern of sudden, abrupt movements that he'd used against the Hierophant.

The red-haired senior chose simple speed, and a graceful mid-lunge sidestep when the Lover launched a burst of Agi fire at her. It scorched past, just incidentally helping to dry her still-damp hair, and then she was in close, rapier thrusting into the dripping red of its main body.

While Mitsuru unleashed a rapid-fire series of stabs, Takeba took aim and let fly with an arrow. The Lover being a not-exactly-hard target, her aim was true, and the projectile went clear through its back and out to embed itself in the far wall. It retaliated with a burst of fire in her direction; Takeba quickly jumped to one side, and pulled another arrow from her quiver.

Off to Mitsuru's right, Iori had brought his katana down in a heavy overhand strike, making the Shadow "bleed" black ichor, mixing with the strange red it was already dripping. He pulled back immediately, and swung his blade up into a stance more like a batter in a baseball game than a true swordsman.

_He lacks technique,_ she noted absently, rolling away even as Iori unleashed a "home-run" slash. _It works, but Arisato is-_

Arisato was, at the moment, just pulling back from a double-thrust. A fireball crashed into his chest, faster and closer than he could evade, but he seemed to take it in stride, using the kinetic energy the blow imparted to spin sideways. At the same time, he abruptly flipped his blades, switching to a reverse grip.

A breath, no more, and then Arisato began a side-stepping spin, blades whirling around to strike the Shadow at least six times in the span of a second. It released an unearthly howl of pain, and struck back with some kind of strange, animal-like projectile attack, followed by another Agi blast; the first he actually batted aside with his left-hand sword, the second he rolled away from, still riding the momentum of his spinning attack.

Then a second "arrow" leapt from the Shadow, caught him in the spot where he'd been burned, and flung him back two meters.

"Takeba!" Mitsuru snapped, already running forward. "Support!"

"R-right! Io!"

She didn't pay much attention to the wash of cool green that was the Dia spell Takeba directed to Arisato. She wanted to, but she needed to focus on the task at hand, and that task was attempting to skewer her with sharpened protrusions from its wings.

Mitsuru jumped one of them, sidestepped the next two in a dance-like left-right maneuver, and thrust with her rapier once she was close enough. A stab, then two, a third, then a pair of lightning-quick slashes with the very tip of her blade; then she was pulling back and ducking, as Iori jumped over her. "Take this, you son of a bitch!" the junior yelled, putting all the energy of his fall into his attack. More ichor bled free, off to one side Arisato was back on his feet, Takeba was readying another arrow-

"_Watch out!"_ Yamagishi cried out. _"Maragion!"_

Mitsuru wasn't quite sure how the other girl knew that -Yamagishi seemed to have a deeper insight into Shadows than she ever had- but she took it at face value. "Takeba, with me!" she shouted. "Penthesilea!"

"Io, bring me a wind!"

Arisato and Iori both shielded their faces as best they could; but it was from the counterattack as much as the Lover's wall of fire, as Mitsuru and Takeba's Personas unleashed a wave of supernatural ice and wind that formed into an improvised blizzard. Against one or the other of them, the Lover's fire would've likely won out.

Against _two_ Persona users, it was merely equal, the competing forces of fire and ice meeting in the middle of the room and stalling.

"I _really_ hope they've got good insurance!" Arisato yelled over the wind. "And I am _so_ glad I wore eye protection this time!"

"_Careful! It's trying something new… No! Everyone, close your minds, quickly!"_

They couldn't really see the Lover right now, concealed beyond fire, ice, and wind, and under other circumstances Yamagishi's frantic instruction might've seemed a complete non-sequitor.

After the events of this night, Mitsuru grasped her meaning at once. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the mental assault.

From beyond the curtain of ice and fire, an invisible yet perceptible wave flowed across the room, and in the instant Mitsuru felt it pass through her body, it was no longer the Shadow's room that lay before her. No more did she see a blizzard warring with a firestorm; no more did she hear the sounds of battle, or the voices of her teammates.

None of that seemed to matter, now. She was back in the room she'd awoken in with Arisato earlier, and as before, there he was in front of her. Smiling, coat off, shirt unbuttoned; she, too, was missing her uniform, the towel beginning to-

"I _don't_ think so! Io!"

Cool warmth flooded over Mitsuru, and the vision was gone as quickly as it had come, replaced once more with the battlefield. In the time her mind had been muddled, the wind and ice had dispersed, giving her a clear view again; to one side, she could see a very… _annoyed_ Yukari, just now lowering her Evoker. She gave Mitsuru a quick nod, and replaced the Evoker with a fresh arrow.

_Thank you, Takeba,_ Mitsuru thought, shivering at the all-too-recent memories the Lover's mental attack had brought back to mind. From the way Iori was hacking at one of its wings, and Arisato was stabbing it in the back, it seemed she had been the only one directly affected this time.

She wasn't complaining. Bad enough for her to be reliving what had happened; if Arisato had been afflicted at the same time, she wasn't sure what the consequences might've been, but she was convinced they wouldn't have been good.

_Enough is enough,_ she thought, knuckles turning white from the strength of her grip on her rapier's hilt. Snarling wordlessly, she rushed the Lover, sidestepped another thrust from one of its wings, and stabbed forcefully. Once, then twice; three times, four, a fifth forming a star pattern, and a fifth in the center.

Mitsuru finished up with a quick, forceful kick, pushing off and back away from the Shadow just in time to let one of Takeba's arrows through. Iori followed it in, outright ignoring an Agi burst that grazed his chest, and swung his katana in a wide arc, cutting a thick, heavy wound in the heart-shape's bulk.

"_It's weakening!"_ Yamagishi shouted out in her mind. _"You've almost finished it-but it's trying to use its mental attack again!"_

"No more!" Mitsuru snarled in response. _"Arisato!"_

Exactly what she wanted the swordsman to do, she wasn't sure; but if anyone would understand her basic intent, and have something to do about it, she was certain it would be him. True to her expectations, Arisato simply nodded, and thrust his right-hand blade into the Lover's side-and left it there. Lifting his now-free hand, he summoned up a set of spectral cards, selected two of them, and left them to hang in the air in front of him. He dismissed the rest of the deck then, and drew his Evoker.

"Forneus!" Arisato called out, raising the pistol to his head. "Decarabia! Head my call, and grant your strength to my comrade!"

With the pull of a trigger and a loud _crack_ like shattering glass, two shapes appeared in the air before him. One bore the semblance of a manta ray merged with the more objectionable aspects of a shark; the other, a starfish with one giant eye in the center of its body. The two Personas appeared to nod to each other, then turned as one to Mitsuru, flapped their respective limbs, and sent a wave of power right at her.

Unlike the wave that had been the Lover's mind manipulation, this one was pleasant, empowering; like the tide coming in, bringing with it strength. Mitsuru could feel her muscles drawing power from the Personas' spell, her skin hardening, her feet growing fleet. Her body felt stronger than it ever had. It was… _exhilarating._

It was just what she needed.

"You'll fall by _my_ hand!" she shouted at the Lover. Taking a handful of steps back, she set herself, gritted her teeth, and rushed forward. Ignoring completely its attempts to skewer her, the grazing blows from its razor-sharp wings sliding harmlessly off her toughened body, Mitsuru leapt into the air, and unleashed a storm of rapid-fire thrusts from her rapier. Her weapon itself was glowing now, perhaps from friction, as her arm went back and forth with lightning speed. Stab, thrust, retract, repeat, a dozen times she impaled it in the span of a couple of seconds.

It attempted to burn her, but she hit it then, feet-first, rebounded, and rolled away the moment she hit the floor. Then she was back on her feet, running forward again, and slashing away. Once, twice, an attacking wing sliced off when it tried to parry, and she was back in front of it.

Behind her, she could hear Arisato shouting something else, just as she was putting every gram of strength she had into a single, powerful thrust. "Pyro Jack! Burn through!"

The fireball missed the Lover completely-but did not miss the far wall, which was evidently exactly what he was aiming at. Or so Mitsuru judged from the fact that the _hole_ the Agilao spell blasted in said wall was directly in the path of the Lover as it careened back from her strike. Flying out into open air, it had fallen most of the way to the ground when it howled mournfully, and burst into onyx smoke.

Mitsuru watched it die, anger slowly fading from her face. When it had disappeared completely, she relaxed tense muscles, turned to Arisato, and once more saluted him with her blade. He returned the gesture, and they sheathed their swords together.

* * *

"Well," Minato remarked a few moments after the Lover's demise, "that was a hell of a thing." Walking over to the hole he'd had Pyro Jack burn clear through the wall, he took a cautious look down. "I think it's gone, though."

"_It is,"_ Fuuka confirmed, sounding as exhausted as any of them. _"I don't sense any more Shadows in that building, so please return now."_ She paused. _"I'm ending communication now; sorry, but I'm a little tired, too."_

"Good work, Yamagishi," Mitsuru told her, sagging against the nearest wall. "We'll be right down."

_Not surprising,_ Minato mused, backing away from the hole. _Fuuka might not be a fighter, but she has to maintain her Persona in materialized form for the entire operation. That's gotta take it out of you; I don't think I _could_ do it._

"At least it's over," Yukari said, sinking to her knees. "Wow… that wasn't as hard to fight as the ones last month, but it was still pretty rough…"

_That's one hell of an understatement._ Minato shivered. _I think I'm gonna need therapy._ He very carefully did _not_ look at Mitsuru, now that the battle was over. It was a little too easy, right now, for him to mentally edit her uniform out of the picture.

"Tch," Junpei grunted, sheathing his katana without ceremony. "That wasn't so tough. But so much for low profile, _Leader."_ He shook his head. "Broken mirrors, broken door, and now you blew a _hole in the damned wall._ Brilliant, when we're trying to be, y'know, inconspicuous."

"Actually," Mitsuru said, looking at the goateed student oddly, "I think the burns may actually help. This will be written off as just your average vandalism, more than likely."

"Might be a little rough on whoever rented this room, though," Minato mused, rubbing at his abused chest. "This is where the most damage is, so they'll be the obvious suspects… Can't say I'm too bothered by that, though. You come to a place like this, you ought to be ready for a little humiliation."

"Oh, yeah, real compassionate of you, 'Leader'," Junpei snorted, shooting him a glare. "Just 'cause _you_ think this is so terrible doesn't mean everybody does, y'know."

He headed out of the room before Minato could reply. The blue-haired swordsman, puzzled, exchanged a look with Yukari, who simply shrugged. He'd noticed that there was some tension between her and Junpei since they'd regrouped, but evidently she didn't think it was the cause of his current snit.

"…Okay, then," Minato said after a moment. "Let's get out of here before the Dark Hour ends, and people start to notice this is a war zone."

"Excellent idea," Mitsuru agreed, moving to follow him out. "I believe we should return to the dorm as soon as possible, and get some rest."

The trip back down through the "hotel" was uneventful, not even marred by any Shadows; it seemed as though the destruction of the Hierophant and Lovers had dispersed the small fry that they'd encountered earlier, as well. Minato wasn't complaining. After two grueling battles, one of the most embarrassing moments of his life, and the simple energy expenditure of the Persona fusion skill he'd used on Mitsuru, he wasn't sure he _could_ fight anymore tonight.

According to his pocket watch, they had perhaps ten minutes left in the Dark Hour by the time they reached the bottom, and found Fuuka and Akihiko waiting for them outside, with Junpei already there and off to one side. Fuuka looked about as tired as Minato felt, while Akihiko appeared disgustingly fresh to his eyes.

"Everything's taken care of, huh?" the boxer said, smiling at the returning group. "No problems, I trust?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Mitsuru replied, quite clearly _not_ looking at Minato. "That was well done, all of you," she went on, looking over each of the team. "You've earned your rest. Let's go home and get to bed."

"…Tch." Even as the others turned to leave, Junpei cast another baleful glance at his classmate. "So, you're the hero of the day again, huh?" he muttered. "Got all the answers, and you're the MVP…"

Yukari shot him a strange look. "What's your problem, anyway?" Her lips quirked in a small smile. "Jealous, Junpei?"

"Like hell!" he snapped back, spinning on his heel. "Mind your own business!"

_Okay, this is getting just a _little_ old. _"Junpei," Minato called out, stepping toward the other swordsman, "I think this _is_ our business, actually." Junpei turned to face him again, scowling fiercely, but he didn't flinch. "You've been acting weird on and off since around the time we fought the Priestess, and it's starting to interfere with the team. So tell me: just what the hell _is_ your problem?"

The entire team stopped to watch, Akihiko and Mitsuru exchanging cautious looks; Fuuka, in particular, suddenly looked very uneasy. When Junpei's jaw worked for several moments, glare growing stronger, she visibly winced.

"You wanna know?" Junpei said finally. "Fine! My _problem,_ 'Leader', is that somehow _you're_ getting credit for being 'Mister Perfect', when all _I_ ever get is, 'Stupei, you're being reckless'!" His fists clenched, and he took a couple of steps toward Minato. "I go off on my own, _once, _'cause we don't have time to be 'careful', and I get called crazy and stupid. _You_ jump on the _roof_ of the damned train, and you get applauded!" Another step. "You jump out a window and _bungee-jump_ down Tartarus, and even though you got knocked out right after, everybody thinks you're just awesome!"

"Junpei-"

"I'm not done!" He stared into Minato's eyes, glaring so hard the latter was surprised he didn't burst into flames. "I'm _sick_ of always hearing you have just the right answer, and when I get something right, everybody thinks _you_ told me how! You've even got every freakin' girl in the _school_ ready to jump you, and you just-!"

Minato had no particular recollection of moving, just of his vision going briefly red. When it cleared, Junpei was up against the hotel's outer wall, help up by Minato's hand fisted in his collar. "You wanna be a hero, is that it?" he whispered, voice low.

"I want a little credit, yeah!" Junpei snapped back, struggling in Minato's grip. "The world ain't all about you! Let somebody else have a little time in the spotlight, why dontcha?!"

"You have no idea what the _hell_ you're talking about," Minato told him, meeting his glare with one of his own now. "You wanna be a hero? You wanna be the war machine? Well let me tell you something, Junpei Iori. You want to be a hero, you'd better understand what it _costs!"_

The sudden shout took the entire team by surprise; Yukari most of all, though she could see Fuuka shrinking back as if the shout had been even louder. None of them could remember Minato taking _anything_ so personally, outside of his PTSD episode.

"Oh, yeah," Junpei growled, unimpressed. "You've got it _so_ hard, don't ya? Straight As, rising star on the Kendo Team, the girls just-"

Minato's free hand slammed into the wall next to Junpei's head with enough force to leave an imprint. "If you continue to bring _that_ up, Junpei," he whispered, threat implicit in his tone, "you will not be sitting down for the next month, do you understand me?" He lowered his hand, but did not loosen his grip on Junpei's shirt. "You think I woke up one day and decided, hey, it'd be awesome if I knew how to kill people, just in case I ever have the chance to play superhero?"

"Cut the melodrama, 'Leader'," Junpei retorted. Some of his bravado had left, though, and he was starting to visibly sweat.

"Melodrama didn't _shoot me in the arm,_ Junpei. Melodrama didn't almost gut me, and melodrama sure as _hell_ didn't cost me my heart!" Minato's knuckles were white now, but he showed no sign of strain at holding up his teammate. "You really wanna be the hero, then understand that it doesn't come cheap. And if you wanna be a _leader,_ then start acting like part of the team!"

"Like you're one to talk!"

"I have done extreme things," Minato acknowledged, thinking back to the monorail, and to his descent of Tartarus. "But you know what the difference is? I've been training to wield a sword since the day I was strong enough to hold a shinai in my little hands, Junpei. I've been _taught_ how to climb, how to fight. And the _real_ difference is that I act as part of a _plan,_ not because I'm trying be a hero." He snorted. "You want to be a _hero,_ Junpei? Then stop _trying_ to be one, and start _acting_ like one!"

"Arisato, that's enough!" Mitsuru snapped, stepping toward the arguing pair. "Put him down!"

Minato started, as if only just realizing what he was doing. Then, slowly, he untangled his fist from Junpei's shirt, letting him back down on his feet, and stepped back. _Okay, that… that wasn't quite what I had in mind…_

Walking several paces back, he took a deep breath, and stared at Junpei. All of a sudden, he felt tired again, the fatigue from the evening's events coming back full-force. "Junpei," he said wearily, the heat gone from his voice, "I am not a 'hero', and being the center of girls' attention is not all it's cracked up to be. But if you want, really want, to be a leader, _think_ before you act, okay? Acting all resentful, even if it's justified, just makes it harder for everybody to work together."

He turned then, too tired to even try and see if he was getting through to Junpei, and began walking away. _If he doesn't get it now, I don't know what else to say,_ he thought tiredly. _And I… I just can't think anymore tonight. There's been too much…_

"Arisato," Mitsuru said quietly, catching up to him, "that was out of line."

Minato didn't bother to face her. "I know," he murmured. "I got a little carried away. Sorry, Senpai." He sighed. "I don't think I was wrong, though."

"…Neither do I," she admitted, very quietly. "But assaulting him isn't going to help you, the team, or anyone else. Don't do it again."

"Or I'll be executed. Yeah, figured that, Senpai." He closed his eyes, wearily plodding on. "My word on it, Senpai. Won't happen again…"

"Good." There was a long pause, and Minato thought that was the end of the discussion; then she spoke again, very softly. "Arisato… sooner or later, there are things we need to talk about."

"…Yeah."

* * *

"Well, _that_ was certainly intriguing."

In the middle of the Dark Hour, when all but a miniscule fraction of humanity was safely locked away in coffins, one thing SEES had never thought to look out for was eavesdroppers. The idea of checking around for spies wouldn't have occurred even to Minato, who at other times could be extremely paranoid on the subject of discretion.

Because of the simple assumption that they were the only ones who could function effectively during that strange hour, none of SEES had even the slightest thought of checking the nearby buildings, and so never noticed the two people standing atop a roof directly across the street from the hotel where they'd fought their latest battle. Not even Fuuka, with her powers bordering on outright clairvoyance, noticed anything.

The reverse was not true.

The pale, unkempt youth who a few nights earlier had badly wounded a delinquent watched with considerable interest as SEES dispersed into the night, departing the scene of their conflict as the Dark Hour waned. He and his companion had been watching from the moment SEES arrived, and though much of what had happened was beyond their ken, they'd seen the explosion, and the Shadow that had subsequently been knocked flying out the hole.

Just as they'd seen the argument that came when the group exited the building.

"Dissention in the ranks," the glasses-clad youth with the briefcase noted. "Kinda surprising they get anything done, if they fight each other like that."

"Yet they do, indeed, get things done," the pale youth mused. "They've been very busy lately… I believe this marks the third time they've engaged Shadows such as this. This, in addition to their frequent forays into the Tower of Demise…"

"Flashy, though," the other commented, shaking his head. "Love to see how the papers report the damage to the building."

The pale youth smiled. "Yes, I admit to being intrigued by that myself. Mm… I surmise that damage was done by one of their new recruits; they seemed to get so much more active once the one in the coat joined them." He turned to his companion. "Well, Jin, what do you think? Are they foe, or potential friend? That outburst aside, both the blue-haired one and his friend with the beard seem to revel in their powers…"

"That's a good question." Jin frowned, watching as the last of SEES disappeared from sight. "…With the disagreement we saw, it's hard to say. But we know someone who _should_ know, don't we? We've got a delivery for our 'friend' soon, so why don't we just ask him?"

The pale youth smiled again, very slowly. "Yes… yes, Jin, I believe that's an _excellent_ idea. After all, even if he's no longer 'one' of them, he maintains contact with the boxer, doesn't he? After everything, I doubt he'll be averse to giving us, oh, just a few clues…"

* * *

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, Very Early Morning

* * *

Normally, SEES returned home to the dorm after an operation as a group. Tonight, Yukari, Fuuka, and Akihiko made their way back as one cluster, but the others went individually, at their own paces, by their own routes. Each of them had something to think about, and something that left them uncomfortable with the others.

Minato chose back alleys and a slow, steady walk. Now that the Dark Hour was over, he was intellectually aware of the danger of ordinary muggers, but at this moment he didn't particularly care. He had far too much on his mind, and honestly, he'd have been _much_ surprised if your average mugger could measure up to the kinds of eldritch threats he dealt with as a matter of routine now.

_**Master?**_ Pixie inquired tentatively. _**Are you all right?**_

_Not particularly,_ he admitted, slipping into an alley behind a fast-food restaurant. _Seeing one's Senpai naked isn't something you get over instantly. And…_

…_**Yeah. Guess so.**_

Minato was fairly sure that, out of the entire team, he was the only one who'd ever had a romantic relationship of any kind, let alone a lasting one. By rights, that should've made him the least oblivious of them all to feelings of attraction, especially his own. Considering how that "lasting relationship" had ended, however, it might not be so surprising that he was very good at ignoring his own impulses.

He'd realized, intellectually, that Mitsuru Kirijo was a beautiful young woman right from the moment he saw her. Objective recognition of beauty, though, didn't necessarily mean that beauty matched his own personal tastes, and besides that he'd always ridiculed the idea of "love at first sight". A couple of Junpei's needling remarks aside, he simply hadn't thought very deeply into the matter, being far more interested in his Senpai's personality… not to mention the secrets she was very obviously keeping.

That moment, in the hotel room, with the Lovers Shadow messing with his head and causing Mitsuru to drop, well, everything… That had been the first time Minato really realized that he was physically attracted to her.

Even leaving aside the circumstances, that realization rattled him very deeply. As cute as Tsuruya had been, and as, ah, "awkward" as a couple of situations with her had gotten, Minato hadn't seen a girl in remotely that kind of …intimacy… since Saya. Something inside him had recoiled at the very idea, something so primal he'd never even really noticed the self-censoring occurring.

For the first time since that night of horror, he'd been forced to truly _look_, and now he had absolutely no idea what to do with the results.

_**You know, Master,**_ Pixie said carefully, with none of her usual teasing tone, _**there's nothing actually **_**wrong**_** with it. There's really nothing about your respective situations that should stop you, if you really **_**are**_** interested.**_

For a long moment, long enough for Minato to dart across a more frequented street and into another alley, he didn't respond. Then, finally, _You may be right. But as I've been telling Junpei so often, there's a lot more to a relationship than physical attraction, Pixie. And the fact is, Senpai and I don't know each other very well. It's been a game of cat and mouse, trying to ferret out each other's secrets; we haven't exactly talked much about ourselves._

_**You could simply ask,**_ Valkyrie put in, unexpectedly supporting her frequent debating partner. _**Would it be so strange for a student to simply sit down and **_**talk**_** with his Senpai, Master?**_

_Maybe not,_ he conceded, massaging his chest and its still-healing burn. _But not yet. It would be awkward as hell right now, and honestly, there's too many secrets. We'd spend too much time dancing around the things neither of us is willing to talk about yet._

_**Like **_**her**_** scars?**_ Valkyrie mused.

_Exactly._

Minato hadn't freaked just because of the compromising position, and he was pretty sure his Senpai had been more than merely humiliated by her exposed skin. He'd gotten a much longer look at her body than he was comfortable remembering, and one thing that had stood out to him very clearly, in the aftermath, was a series of scars on her torso.

Given his history, and his _family_ history, Minato knew both battle scars and surgical ones very well. Mitsuru's were very clearly the latter, and given his equally in-depth knowledge of surgical repair, he could say with a fair degree of certainty that those scars had not resulted from surgery repairing injury or treating disease.

He wasn't a conspiracy theorist, even though his past and family experience had shown him there _were_ things most people would consider "tinfoil hat material". Even so, those scars suggested to him experimentation, not treatment, and he suspected he knew why.

Minato knew, generally, when most of the team had awakened to Persona. Yukari had done so only weeks before his arrival, and Junpei slightly after his own first summoning; Fuuka, of course, had done so right in front of him. Akihiko- from what little he'd been able to learn about the boxer's past, had been recruited into SEES sometime in middle school.

Nowhere had he found any information at all about when _Mitsuru_ had awakened to the Dark Hour.

She was the heir to the Kirijo Group, and Minato knew damn well that her grandfather had not been the nicest person around. Details were scarce, but Saya's father had told him enough to know that much. Mitsuru's father was supposed to be cut from different cloth, but there was definite precedent in the Group for… unsavory things.

If Mitsuru had awakened long enough ago, perhaps as the _original_ Persona user… and if that had happened while her grandfather was still around, or at least some of his like-minded subordinates…

_**Her past could very well be as dark as yours, Master, **_Pyro Jack interjected. _**Those scars alone… would that I could find those responsible!**_

Typical of an entity that, mythologically-speaking, was given to luring people to their deaths. Jack's answer to everything seemed to be, "burn it".

_**Are you going to investigate, Master?**_ Valkyrie asked.

…_Not yet,_ Minato answered, as the dorm finally came into view. _It's not my business. But I think… when things have calmed down, and we can look each other in the eye again, I may just let her know that I'm available, if she needs a sympathetic, discrete ear._

_**Or a boyfriend?**_

_Shut up, Pixie._

* * *

Early Morning

* * *

Normally, Mitsuru ended up walking from the station to the school alone, save the times she deliberately arranged her timing to match Arisato's. The others' schedules varied too widely, save for Akihiko, who tended to arrive after his morning training only just barely before the first bell.

Today, Akihiko was actually waiting for her when she stepped off the train. "Hey," he called, waving one gloved hand.

"This is unusual for you, Akihiko," Mitsuru noted, moving to join him. "Did something happen?"

"Not to me. Seems to me that _you_ had quite the night, though." When she looked at him, eyes narrow, Akihiko lifted a hand to forestall protest. "Hey, I'm not gonna pry if you don't want to talk about it, Mitsuru. But I've known you for years now, and I know you weren't yourself when you came out of that hotel last night."

She sighed, unable to deny it. She'd known Akihiko since the very beginning of SEES, when they were both in middle school; if anyone could see through her, it would be him. For all that he played the part of the battle-hungry, strength-obsessed boxer, Akihiko was far more perceptive than most people gave him credit for.

_Like Shinjiro,_ Mitsuru thought, as they stepped out of the station and headed toward Gekkokan. _No wonder they get along so well… or used to, anyway._

"So," Akihiko said at length. "Do you want to talk about it?" He hesitated. "Does it have anything to do with Minato almost strangling Junpei last night? Never thought I'd see our Detective lose his cool like that. Well, against one of us, anyway."

Mitsuru snorted, remembering well Arisato's freak out during the previous month's operation. "Yes, I admit that I was caught off guard by that, myself… No, Akihiko, it's not related to that. At least, not as far as I know."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he repeated, looking at her in concern.

"…No. Not really." She paused. "It's… complicated. But I do have one question you might be able to answer." Mitsuru hesitated again, folding her arms. "Akihiko… do you know if Arisato has a girlfriend?"

Akihiko's eyebrows went up. "If he… Wow, Mitsuru, I knew the guy had you curious, but I didn't think-"

"Finish that sentence, and I _will_ execute you," she snapped, eyes narrowing dangerously. "That's not my point, Akihiko."

"Okay, okay! It was just a suggestion…" He sighed, looking away. "I think I do know the answer to that, yeah, but… I don't think you're gonna like it, Mitsuru. _Not_ that way!" he said hurriedly, seeing the look on her face. "I think the answer, Mitsuru, is 'not anymore'."

That could've meant a number of things, ranging from innocent to depressing. From the look on Akihiko's face, Mitsuru was very much afraid that "depressing" didn't quite say it… which, unfortunately, fit all too well with what she'd seen of their field leader.

"What makes you say that?" she asked at last.

"A hunch," Akihiko admitted, shrugging. "His attitude-and the names of his swords. You know the one is called 'Eurydice', right? Well, I'm not as up on Greek Mythology as you probably are, but I know _that_ name."

So did she. Still… "It could be coincidence," she pointed out. "Arisato's obviously very well read, and his first Persona _was_ Orpheus."

"Which is actually why I'm not inclined to think it _is_ a coincidence, Mitsuru. But more than that… I don't know Shakespeare that well, either, but I think the fact that he named his new sword 'Ophelia' isn't exactly a good sign."

Mitsuru winced. She knew that one, too. _Akihiko is right. One might be coincidence, even with the Orpheus Persona. Both? …Not likely._

"Dead," she said aloud, sighing.

"That's my read on it," Akihiko agreed, as the gates of Gekkokan High came into view. "I don't know about you, Mitsuru, but I'm getting the distinct feeling that our Detective has _issues._"

_It would help explain last night,_ Mitsuru admitted to herself. _I've got a fair idea what the normal male reaction to a situation like that would be, and Arisato's wasn't it. And then there's his fight with Iori, and the particular accusation that made him snap._

…_I should apologize to him, for almost "executing" him._

"That's about all I know, Mitsuru," Akihiko was saying now. "That, and for all the attention he gets at school, our Detective doesn't seem to really care. I can name at least three girls right off the top of my head that would be his for the asking, and I _don't_ think he's oblivious." He shrugged. "I'm not gonna ask why you want to know, Mitsuru, but I'll tell you right now he probably needs us as much as we need him. Whether he recognizes it or not."

* * *

One thing Minato was beginning to really hate about Full Moon operations: he never managed to get enough sleep afterwards. It was typically after twelve-thirty in the morning by the time they managed to get back to the dorm, and the evening's efforts always left him either so tired he wanted to sleep all morning, or too wired to get to sleep right away.

This was mostly the latter. Having been unable to get the incident with Mitsuru out of his head, Minato had managed only about three hours of sleep in the end, and heading to school so soon afterwards was taking him more effort than climbing a dozen floors of Tartarus in one go.

His burns, at least, had mostly healed in the night, but he suspected the energy involved in such rapid recovery hadn't helped his rest any. So, instead of his usual steady walk from the monorail to the gates of Gekkokan, it was more of a trudge, just barely fast enough to make sure he'd get to class on time.

"Hey, hey, it's almost summer break! What do you say we go somewhere for vacation?"

"Great idea! I wanna sea the ocean, the beach, the mountains… Oh, I just can't decide. …Aw, but first we have exams, don't we? Man… I'm so not looking forward to Tuesday…"

"Oh, ugh, I forgot about that… But hey, summer break comes right after that! Just remember that, and we'll be fine."

_Exams… Crud,_ Minato thought, energy level dropping further. _Well, I guess the timing could be worse, but still… I'd better make sure not to schedule any Tartarus expeditions for a little while. We're going to need all the sleep and studying we can get._

He was still mentally griping about it when his cell phone unexpectedly rang, with a tone he hadn't heard much in months. _Eh? Odd timing…_ Pulling it out, he flipped it open. "Yeah, Arisato."

"_Hey, hey, Minato-kun!"_ the cheery, too-energetic-for-mornings voice on the other end said. _"Good morning!"_

"Speak for yourself, Tsu-chan," Minato replied, wincing. "Some of us didn't get enough sleep last night."

"_Oh? Sorry!"_ Tsu-chan giggled. _"Long night, Minato-kun? Up too late studying?"_

"I wish." He thought back to the specific events that had kept him awake so long, and shuddered. "It was more like old times, actually. Kept me up too late by itself, and then I couldn't get to sleep for hours afterwards."

"_Old times?"_ Her tone went from excessive cheer to thoughtfulness; she of all people knew what "old times" meant. _"Are you okay, Minato-kun? You're not hurt, are you?"_

"Nothing I couldn't handle, Tsu-chan," Minato assured her. "Like I told you the other day, I'm stronger than I used to be. No, actually…" He glanced around, seeing that he was past the gates now and approaching the main building. With all the potential eavesdroppers that implied. "Well. Let's say it was like the 'ship in a bottle' incident."

"_Ahh…"_ Tsu-chan giggled again. _"Like that, huh? Hee hee! Well, I guess your class is going to start as soon as mine is, so I guess I'll have to ask you later. Say! Summer break's coming up, maybe we can meet up then?"_

"Sounds good, actually," he said, thinking about it for just a moment. "I don't know if my club is doing anything then, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out."

"_Okay, then, it's a promise! A reunion of the North High Irregulars! Talk to you later, Minato-kun! And tell me all about it when I see you!"_

Well. _That_ certainly improved his morning. She'd started off by hurting his ears, but the prospect of talking things over with his old senpai cheered Minato up a lot. If anyone was likely to listen to his story _without_ teasing him till he spontaneously combusted, it would be Tsu-chan.

Now he just had to get through exams and survive long enough to see her.

* * *

Morning

* * *

Composition. A nice and safe topic, comparatively; Minato's English was quite decent, and Toriumi was sane, compared to most of the rest of the faculty. Occasionally stern, occasionally prone to tangents about sweet foods, but at least decent with her nominal subject.

"Well," Toriumi was saying, "let's see… Oh… Finals start next Tuesday. Isn't that a drag? We just _had_ exams… Trust me, this is just as much of a pain for the teachers as for your students. Well, maybe 'pain' isn't quite the best word. English, as I've mentioned before, can be tricky, especially with the number of loan words it's absorbed from a surprising number of other languages. In particular, the resulting mishmash can lead to considerable pronunciation difficulties. Case in point… Minato!"

_Why it is always me?_ Minato wondered, coming to his feet regardless. _Especially the morning after an operation?_

"Like I said," the teacher began, "a lot of English terms have awkward and unusual pronunciations. So, how you would pronounce _this_ word?" She pointed to the blackboard behind her, on which was written "onomatopoeia"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Junpei watching, clearly wondering if he'd get even this one. _Depends,_ he thought dryly, _on whether I can avoid yawning in the middle of the word. Difficult, yes. Obscure, yes. Present in trivia books? Also yes._

"O-no-ma-to-pee-ah," Minato said, enunciating each syllable with great care, as much from sleepiness as the difficulty of saying it in the first place.

_And Ikutsuki-san thinks his _name_ is a tongue-twister? He's got it easy._

"Exactly right!" Toriumi said approvingly, nodding for him to sit back down. "Not bad; I didn't think even you would get that one, Minato. Yes, this is one of the loan words I mentioned, specifically coming from Greek, which is why it's pronunciation is strange even for English. It means 'name-making', and our own Japanese has some of the most extensive onomatopoeia in the world…"

Junpei shot him an exasperated look, but Minato didn't really care. _This _still_ isn't as awkward as last night. In fact, I don't think I'm going to be bothered by much of anything for a while, in comparison to _that._ Junpei, quite frankly, can go to hell._

* * *

Evening

* * *

Fuuka was kind of relieved to find the lobby empty when she returned from school. She had something to discuss with Yukari, but for just a little bit, she wanted to enjoy the emptiness of the dorm with no one else there. A little time that was quiet, both in sound and in feeling.

She didn't know exactly what had happened during the period when her powers had been jammed, the previous night, but despite claims to the contrary from all parties, she knew _something_ had gone down. Mitsuru-senpai and Yukari had both been notably uncomfortable when contact was restored, the former in particular radiating extreme embarrassment, to a degree she never would've thought her senpai capable of.

Then there was Junpei and Minato. Junpei had been a roiling mass of resentment from the moment the interference ended, and had remained that way ever since. Minato, by contrast, had been very badly rattled, as embarrassed as Mitsuru but also feeling deeply… Well, the best way Fuuka could think of to describe it was "spooked".

Then, when Junpei started mouthing off, a spike of brief but murderous fury.

Things had settled, slightly, once the team broke up to return home, but things were still notably unsettled. Being the first to return to the dorm left Fuuka some time to recover from the turmoil of school without the team's issues interfering.

At least Natsuki was being a true friend now, with no trace of her former bullying. The others in her group had apologized profusely, once they'd gotten out of the hospital, but Natsuki had gone so much further than that.

Fuuka rather wished she could explain exactly what her club did to her friend, but even without that, Natsuki had been unfailingly supportive since the rescue, when Fuuka needed a shoulder to cry on.

Peace was broken briefly when Junpei arrived, the first of the others to return. He was still simmering, but he managed to greet Fuuka pleasantly before disappearing upstairs, ostensibly to study. Mitsuru and Akihiko came back within minutes of each other, the former noticeably subdued, the latter strangely amused; they, too, quickly went upstairs, presumably to _genuinely_ study.

Minato was the next to appear. To Fuuka's relief, while he was still feeling distinctly unsettled, he was also far more cheerful than when she'd last been in his presence. "Hello, Minato-kun!" she called. "Are you feeling better?"

He looked at her in silence for a moment, as if trying to figure out exactly how she meant that, before finally shoving his hands in his pockets and smiling. "I could still do with about a week's worth of sleep," he said, "but… yeah. Got a call this morning from an old friend, that helped a lot." His cheer faded a little. "I'm a little bit worried about Kaz, though."

Fuuka nodded. Minato had been very discrete about it, clearly respecting his friend's privacy, but she knew he was worried about his sparring partner. She didn't know the details, but it seemed clear he was not as well as he appeared; Fuuka had been able to tell that simply from passing him in the hallway once.

She was quietly proud of the fact that, while Minato had developed some kind of ability to "read" physical objects at a glance, her own powers were much broader and more sensitive, even if she couldn't quite read the atomic structure of something. It made her feel like the team really _did_ need her.

"I'm sure he'll be okay," she assured her teammate now. "You're there to help him, right?"

Minato looked surprised at that. "Well… yeah, I guess so." He shrugged uncomfortably. "He doesn't really _want_ help, but… if he asks, I'll do what I can."

Fuuka smiled. "Of course." She couldn't help but add then, "At least it's better than what you're dealing with regarding Tomochika-san!"

"Ugh." He made a face. "You know about that, huh? …Don't tell me how, I don't wanna know. Anyway, I'd better turn in. I need to hit the books, and then I _really_ need to get some sleep."

The swordsman quietly disappeared upstairs, and Fuuka was alone again, waiting for the one she needed to speak to. She occupied herself getting a glass of orange juice from the dining area, and then settled onto one of the couches with her laptop. The data was sparse, but it _was_ there, and she wanted to go over it one more time before…

It wasn't a long wait. She'd only just finished going over the information she'd uncovered when the dorm's front door opened one more time, letting Yukari in. Of all the team that had gone into the love hotel proper, Yukari had probably recovered the fastest, and almost no trace of her embarrassment lingered on her now.

"Oh, hi, Fuuka," the brunette said, catching sight of the team's support. "You're the only one here?"

"The others returned earlier, actually," Fuuka replied. "They've already gone to their rooms, I think. It's good for us, though." She tapped her computer. "I did some digging, like you asked, Yukari-chan, and…"

Yukari hurried over to join her on the couch. "You found something?"

Fuuka nodded. "Like you suggested, it's mostly circumstantial. There was clearly a cover-up; I can't find exact details on causes or what was going on at the site at the time. But that just makes it all the more suspicious, considering what _is_ public knowledge."

The sensitive tapped keys on the laptop, bringing up a news article, and Yukari leaned in close to read it. The story was dated some ten years before, and the headline was simple but brutal:

_**Unexplained Explosion Levels Gekkokan High School; Hundreds Injured, Over A Dozen Missing…**_

* * *

Friday, July 10th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

"Ahh… Even with exams coming up, the morning sunlight is so refreshing! It's so beautiful, reflecting off the windows, like everything is new again…"

"Actually, I think it kind of _is._ My parents once told me that there was an _explosion_ here ten years ago, big enough to knock the whole school down! And on top of that, a bunch of students stopped coming to school for awhile, and nobody knows why… They replaced the building completely afterward, maybe to start off fresh, with a clean slate, so I guess everything's still gleaming."

"Wha- An _explosion?!_ Did somebody screw up and accidentally make a fertilizer bomb in chem lab or something? Wow, that must have been the lecture of the century!"

_It's damned odd, is what it is,_ Minato mused, following the gossiping students through the gates. _It seems like _everything_ comes down to "ten years ago". Hell, my Grandfather was even supposedly up to something super-secret around then. Did Y2K come early and just manifest in ways nobody noticed?_

That was one issue that was beginning to frustrate him. He prided himself on his ability to pry information about anything out of anywhere he had to, without anyone even knowing he was asking questions, but so far he'd mostly come up dry about the school explosion. All he'd found were news reports from the time, which told him exactly squat of substance.

_Well, and the notes I've been finding in Tartarus, but those are so damned cryptic I'm half-tempted to sic Naoto on them. _Would_ if I wasn't worried about her deciding to get involved in this mess directly._

Minato hadn't mentioned those notes to anyone, not even his fellow SEES members. He'd found three of them so far, on the floors where obstructions impeded their progress up Tartarus, and so far all he'd been able to discern from them was that they'd been left by someone involved in setting up Port Island's infrastructure, and that said someone had been very puzzled by the activities of the Kirijo Group at the time.

_I'm almost tempted to actually ask Grandfather, but for some reason I just don't like the idea of bringing him into it…_

His musings were interrupted by his phone, emitting an increasingly familiar piano tune. Pulling it out, he issued his usual greeting by reflex. "Yeah, Arisato."

The quiet chuckle he'd been expecting was the first sound he heard in response. _"Yes, of course. And as you no doubt know, this is Elizabeth,"_ the cheerfully enigmatic resident of the Velvet Room replied. _"No doubt you also have an idea as to why I'm calling."_

Minato lowered his voice, eyes scanning all the potential eavesdroppers around him. "Tartarus, right?"

"_Indeed. Once again, your efforts seem to have wrought a change within the Tower, and the most recent obstruction you've encountered should be passable now. Although,_" Elizabeth added thoughtfully, _"I would personally suggest you wait another day or two before you assay the climb again. I suspect you're still recovering from your most recent operation."_

"You can say _that_ again."

"_I suspect you're still recovering from your most recent operation."_

_**Walked right into **_**that**_** one, Master,**_ Pixie snarked.

_Did she do that on purpose, or is she just that clueless about normal human interaction?_ Minato wondered. _With Elizabeth, I wouldn't care to place bets either way._

"_That aside,"_ Elizabeth continued after a moment, _"you may recall a request I made some time ago?"_

"I do." The last time she'd called him about a change in Tartarus' status, Minato recalled, she'd suggested she wanted to speak to him about something else at a later time.

"_In that case, please come to the Velvet Room this afternoon. There is an entrance in an alley to the rear of Paulownia Mall, so you needn't wait for Tartarus to appear in the evening."_

Kind of a strange request; it was usually Igor who suggested his presence. Still… "Okay," he said, nearing the doors to the main building. "I'll be there, tomorrow afternoon."

Another quiet chuckle. _"Thank you very much, Minato. I'll see you then."_

* * *

Morning

* * *

If there was one class Minato was learning to give his complete, undivided attention, it was the so-called "Integrative Learning". Exactly what that mouthful of nothing technically meant, he wasn't sure. In practice, the lectures were absolutely fascinating.

"Silence!" Nurse Edogawa proclaimed, light making his glasses momentarily opaque. "Class is beginning. Sebna uru quah…"

_I still wonder if those weird syllables are actually supposed to mean something. He's got a different set every time…_

"I plan to use the word 'magic' in a very general sense," Edogawa began the lecture proper. "Or 'magecraft' as the context dictates, but for now we are still discussing the true magic of old. Indeed, we will be speaking today of the _most_ magical place and time: today we discuss Europe of Medieval times. Magic was not as strong as it once was, but it was probably at its most codified; there remains even today much material from the era, from books to folklore. Much of that folklore is muddled, inaccurate representations of what really occurred, but it is a start, and we shall examine it all."

_Magic, magecraft… What really occurred… I really do wonder if this guy actually believes what he says. This _is_ the same guy who poisons students with a straight face in the name of "science", but still… There's something…_

"As I mentioned in our last discussion, European magic has its roots in paganism. That was only the beginning, however, and Christianity, rather than completely wiping it out, instead provided its own influence, with the influx of its own texts, from the varied Christian cultures and subgroups. You've probably heard of some of the more well-known examples: Kabbalah, for example, the study of the mystical aspects of Jewish texts."

Minato had, in fact, heard of that one; although, shooting a glance at Junpei, it seemed the latter had not. Nor, for that matter, had most of the class. Probably not too surprising. He suspected he was about the only student who really paid much attention to Edogawa's ramblings.

"Then, of course, there is the famous Gnosticism, founded by Simon Magus, the Sorcerer."

_You should've at least heard of that one, Junpei… well, maybe not. You're probably not into the deep, story-heavy RPGs I am. But if you _had_ played _Xenogears,_ Edogawa wouldn't have to explain that one much, if at all._

Not that he was about to point that out aloud, even after the class. Ever since the Tanabata operation, Junpei had avoided Minato like the plague… not unreasonably, Minato himself was forced, very privately, to admit.

"Scientific advances actually owe a lot to magic, as well, believe it or not. Now, science itself has been something of a detriment to magic, for reasons I'll explain another day, but it is an ironic truth that magicians spurred progress. The philosophy and natural sciences of Ancient Greece were the fruits of magicians' labor; the same can be said of much of the Islam's progress. Yes," Edogawa added, nodding sagely, "those of you who have read deeply enough to know that Islam technically prohibits progress beyond a certain point may be surprised by this, but at the time, they were in fact far beyond Europe."

_Basic history,_ Minato mused. _Before they got the idea that anything beyond a certain time was verboten. Technically, anyway._

"Now, as for the state of magic in this era…" Edogawa sighed, looking somehow sad. "It was an era where the rule of Christianity and the insight of science collided, and clashed. Mind you, the conflict between the two has been greatly exaggerated; Galileo, for example, was punished by the Church not for heresy, but for refusing to provide proofs of his claims, and, quite frankly, being an all-around unpleasant individual. Religious friction was, at best, a side issue… Ah, but I'm straying from my point. In this time, true magicians still bravely reached up for a connection with the gods, in spite of the pressure of Christianity and the advance of science…" His gaze swept across the class. "You are all still awake, yes? No daydreaming?"

_Only about the subject matter, Sensei,_ Minato thought; but as his own eyes wandered across his classmates, he saw the nurse's point. _Okay, so I probably _am_ about the only one paying attention._

Perhaps that thought constituted tempting Fate. "Eeeheehee…" came Edogawa's trademark, disturbing laugh. "A little test, to see if any of you _are_ listening. Get it wrong, and you'll get a scary guardian angel, indeed. Sebna uru quah… Who _should_ I choose?" Despite his whimsical, rhetorical query, his gaze never moved from his chosen target. "Yes, I think… Minato, I ask _thee."_

_You _always_ ask me,_ Minato thought, coming warily to his feet. _It's actually kind of disturbing._

Edogawa's eyes were hidden behind his glasses, the precise angle of light making them impenetrable to Minato's gaze. "Right then, Minato-kun: what is the study of Jewish mystical texts?"

"Kabbalah," the student replied at once, not even having to think about it. As creeped out as he was getting, he was very unlikely to be tripped up like _that._ Not in _this_ class.

The nurse nodded approvingly. "You were indeed paying attention, good! Your guardian angel otherwise would've been a very scary samurai; Nobunaga himself, perhaps… At any rate. Medieval Europe… the magicians of that age achieved great things, things unimaginable to modern magecraft. Glimmers yet remain, however, such as the development of 'grimoires'. Famous magical texts, which also have a tendency to be very difficult to destroy by normal means…"

Sitting back down, Minato felt a chill go down his spine. _I know where I've heard 'Sebna uru quah' before,_ he realized, distinctly unsettled. _That was one of the things Tsu-chan said, when the Irregulars first encountered those Apparitions in the "Haunted Trainyard"…_

_**Master?**_

_I'm all right, Pixie, just a bit… spooked. Who the _hell_ is this guy? Is it just coincidence, or is he like Tsu-chan?_

_**You could always ask her, when you meet up. I know she always told you you'd figure things out yourself some day, but she might spill a little of the beans.**_

_Worth a shot. At the least, I want some warning if this class is going to get _that_ weird._

* * *

After School

* * *

With school out of the way for one more day, Minato made his way to Paulownia Mall to keep his promise to Elizabeth. He still had basically no idea what she wanted, but if it meant a distraction from both the recent "incident" and the unsettling feeling he'd gotten from the day's Integrative Learning class, he'd gladly do what he could for her.

Not knowing _still_ drove him mildly nuts.

_She's a Resident of the Velvet Room,_ Minato reminded himself. _By now I should be used to her and Igor being cryptic. Whatever the heck they are, they aren't human._

Crossing the main plaza, he entered the indicated alley. Though he had bad memories of the _last_ time he'd ventured into a place like this -and wished absently that he'd thought to retrieve one of his swords before coming here- the remembered fears turned out to be groundless; Paulownia's back alley didn't seem to have the population of delinquents that Port Island Station did.

_I guess everybody who's anybody in the delinquent social structure gravitates over there. Lucky me._

Or maybe there was something else at work, keeping out prying eyes. Plainly visible at the end of the alley was a familiar blue door, hanging a few centimeters off the ground and attached to apparently empty air. The faint glow around it was all the proof he needed of its nature.

While he was confident that he was the only one who could actually _see_ it, Minato wouldn't have been at all surprised to find that there was s subtle mental effect here, gently nudging people away from its vicinity. With the Velvet Room, one never knew.

Withdrawing the Velvet Key from his pocket, Minato slipped it into the lock, turned it, and swung open the door.

Stepping into the Velvet Room proper, he'd crossed to his usual seat on one side of the central table before he realized that the other chair was actually empty. Where Igor usually was, was just an empty spot, with no trace of the enigmatic long-nosed man.

"Uh…?"

From her usual place to one side came Elizabeth's distinctive chuckle. "Don't worry, Minato. My Master merely has other business to attend to; I fear the situation surrounding your contract is not his only duty."

_I'm not sure I want to understand that. I get the feeling that there are things in this world that even I'm better off not knowing, and the full extent of the "duties" of a being like Igor probably fall into that category. Something about the idea of there being powers even beyond Igor strikes me as very Lovecraftian, and I'm just as happy not knowing._

"So this isn't about the contract at all, is it?" he ventured.

Elizabeth smiled. "Very perceptive, Minato. No, actually, I must admit this is a purely selfish request on my part. Will you hear my desire?"

Minato shrugged. "Of course. You and Igor have already been an invaluable help to me; if there's some way I can return the favor…"

Her smile widened. "In that case… I must admit, as fulfilling as my role as a Resident of the Velvet Room may be, in interacting with those from outside, I've occasionally felt… restless. The outside world sounds so intriguing… So, as my Master is currently busy, and there are no pressing tasks for me to tend to, I would ask you to show me a glimpse of your world."

_Elizabeth… visiting the waking world? I didn't know she even _could_ leave; though I guess if Igor isn't here right now, there must be _some_ place they can go. It's still a strange idea, but…_

_**Why not, Master? It could be an intriguing experience, for us all. And you certainly can understand loneliness, can you not?**_

Loneliness? Minato blinked at the thought. Come to think of it, there might be something to that. Igor had told him that it had been years since the Velvet Room last had a guest, so it could well have gotten both lonely _and_ boring. Especially for Elizabeth, who seemed to him to be marginally closer to human than the long-nosed Igor.

"…All right, sure," he said at length. "Shall we?"

Elizabeth's face brightened even more. "Thank you, Minato. I've longed for a chance such as this for some time now, to visit the wonders of the human world. Like the amazing 'train stations', such as the one at which you fought such a hard battle a month ago. That such a place would attract the attention of the Shadows intrigues me."

…_This is going to be interesting. Possibly in the Chinese proverb sense._

* * *

_Okay. I think I may have underestimated just what it is that I'm unleashing on this poor, unprepared world…_

Elizabeth's reaction to Paulownia Mall had been… odd enough as it was. Minato was frankly grateful that most students were currently busy studying for exams, because he didn't really want anyone at Gekkokan -or the dorm, for that matter- learning that he was in any way associated with the gawking Elizabeth shamelessly indulged in.

Or the pouring of what he was fairly sure was several _million_ yen into the Mall's fountains, out of an enthusiastic misinterpretation of human folklore. It would've been funny, if it hadn't made them the most conspicuous people in town.

_Hopefully no one had a camera… scratch that, of _course_ someone had a camera. Okay, let's hope nobody with a camera knew who _I_ was…_

Finally having pried Elizabeth loose from the Mall, they'd taken the monorail to Iwatodai, and while Minato made his way down to ground level without a problem, she had taken an… interesting approach to the process.

Glancing back up, Minato watched as Elizabeth descended the "up" escalator, paused as it carried her back up to the top, came down again, and repeated the process one more time. At last, she made her way down fast enough to outrun the ascent, and joined him on ground level.

Many _humans_ Minato could think of would've been annoyed at the experience, furiously blaming their misunderstanding of how the devices worked on the devices themselves. Elizabeth, by contrast, was smiling broadly, as happy as he'd ever seen her. "So this," she gushed, "is what they call an 'escalator'! How very clever. Flowing stairs that must be mastered by those who would try to pass… So simple in appearance, yet one false step, and you will find yourself mired in an endless ordeal…"

"_**Warning. Please refrain from going down the up escalator, and vice versa. Thank you."**_

Shaking his head in reluctant amusement at Elizabeth's complete disregard of both sense and the automated message, Minato offered, "Very Sisyphean." _Can't beat her, join her, eh?_

_**Probably the only way to stay sane through this, Master.**_

"Very astute, Minato," Elizabeth agreed. "Oh! And what might this be?" Her gaze was caught by something beyond him. "Ah… Please watch your step! There appears to be a pitfall up ahead."

_A pitfall?_ Minato followed her, curious… to find pretty much exactly the obvious. _…Should've known, seeing as I knew there was maintenance work going on._

"Interesting," Elizabeth mused, staring at the open manhole. "Surrounded by fencing, and marked with a sign saying 'Do Not Enter'." She chuckled. "Oh, this is very clever indeed. Humans so often crave that which is forbidden them… This goes against all common sense, against the normal idea that a trap must be hidden…"

_Um. Well, if you think about it, that _does_ make a twisted kind of sense. There really _are_ people Darwinian enough to take that as an invitation._

"How very clever, human authorities," Elizabeth said thoughtfully. "A stairway that challenges the wits, and a pit that challenges the will… Such fascinating methods to use, in the ordeal that is their pursuit of law and order in this town." She nodded to herself. "Shall we continue forth, then, dedicating our thoughts to those unsung heroes who love this town so very much?"

_Unsung heroes?_ Minato thought, walking with Elizabeth toward the nearby stores. _Accurate on that point, at least. I don't know if they'd be more offended or amused by the idea of an open manhole as a secret test of character, though._

They were close to _Bookworms_ -perhaps Minato's favorite store in the entire city- when Elizabeth suddenly paused, sniffing the air. "Hm? This fragrant aroma… Can it really be…?" She rushed ahead-toward _Octopia,_ he noticed.

By the time he caught up with her, the proprietor was looking very impressed. "Well, I'll be! You can identify the secret ingredient just by its smell? Guess you don't dress funny for nothing, lady!" The woman smiled slyly. "Well… there's no _law_ that says a takoyaki shop can't cook things besides octopus, now this there?"

_Except maybe against false advertising. Although come to think of it, nothing around the shop actually _says_ the takoyaki is made with genuine octopus… Well played._

"So," the proprietor said, grinning. "How 'bout it? Wanna try some? It'll make you smile so wide your cheeks will fall right off!"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Really? Cuisine so luscious one's cheeks fall off…! Such a thing would doubtless cause havoc in reality, but now that I've heard of it, I cannot help but want to experience it!"

_Ookay. Elizabeth and metaphor clearly don't get along very well. Or maybe they get along _too_ well, I'm not sure which._

She pulled out a mirror now, and examined her own face. "I must say, I've never actually _seen_ someone's cheeks fall off… that must be quite the experience! An ordinary citizen can't possibly buy these…" Elizabeth trailed off, examining _Octopia_'s menu. "Oh! These cost a mere four hundred yen? W-well… in that case, _two_ packages, please."

"Here ya go! Enjoy, and please come again!"

The two of them moved sit at the nearby bench, Elizabeth examining her food with interest. With the wide-eyed curiosity of a child, she took one piece and carefully chewed it. After swallowing, she nodded slowly. "This distinct texture, the firm, chewy outer skin… Yes, there is no doubt about it. I must say, I'm surprised to come across this used as an ingredient in food."

Minato, in the middle of chewing, paused, looked at her, and very slowly finished his current morsel. _Note to self: do not _ever_ ask what the "secret ingredient" is. I get the feeling that I do _not_ want to know._

Deliberately closing the book on _that_ line of thought, he chose to change the subject. "So… your cheeks still intact?"

"They do _seem_ to still be attached, yes," she confirmed, smiling as she finished her takoyaki. "Which is probably for the best. There are many other delicacies that can be found here, and it would be a shame if my cheeks fell off before I had a chance to sample them." She stood. "There do seem to be many dining establishments in this area, and I wish to sample them all."

_Uh…_

_**Master, it's a good thing you exercise a lot. Think you're gonna need to burn calories **_**really**_** fast tonight.**_

"My first priority," Elizabeth said thoughtfully, "is a place I've heard of called a 'manga café', wherein I wish to obtain the foodstuff known as a 'smoothie bar'."

_**On the bright side, Master, at least she seems to be buying.**_

* * *

_I'm not eating anymore. For the next three days. No. Make that weeks._

"We seem to have exhausted the culinary possibilities in this area," Elizabeth mused, as they made their way back toward the monorail station. "Oh, my," she added, noticing that Minato looked a tad green, "are you well? Now that I think about it, you haven't eaten much since our seventh meal…"

_Seventh? Ah, crud, I lost track at five…_

"I'll be all right," he lied through his teeth, with all the skill of his years of amateur detective experience. "Just ate a little too much is all." _Around the… third meal, was it? Oh, I'm gonna be sick…_

"If you're certain." She smiled. "Regardless, I must truly thank you for such a… _tasty_ experience, Minato. Things like this, I just never have the chance to try in the Velvet Room." As they neared the escalator again, Elizabeth rested her hand on his arm. "If you're amenable, I would like to accompany you outside the Velvet Room again sometime."

"I wouldn't mind," Minato told her, being mostly truthful. _Knowing her, she'll lose interest in food, so next time should be easier on my stomach._ "I take it this kind of thing is new to you."

"Almost all of it, yes," she sighed. "We Residents of the Velvet Room, well… We have our duties, and little else. This is my first chance to really experience the outside world. So far, I'm finding it absolutely delightful.

And she clearly was. Elizabeth usually appeared very cheerful, when they met in the Velvet Room, but today she'd seem far more _alive_ than Minato had ever seen her. It was… interesting to see. Even if it did leave him hoping very, very strongly that no one he knew would pass by until he got her back to the Velvet Room.

"Yes," she said thoughtfully, "this has been a wonderful day. Thank you, Minato. I hope we can do this again soon."

_**Lots more outgoing out here, isn't she? Who knows, Master, maybe someday she'll ask to see someplace more interesting. **_Pixie gave off the impression of a grin. _**Like, I don't know… maybe your bedroom…?**_

_**Do you **_**ever**_** think about anything else, Fae harlot?!**_

* * *

Saturday, July 11th, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Four days since the Tanabata operation, and its acrimonious curtain call. Minato hadn't exchanged so much as two words with Junpei since their ferocious argument, and had managed to mostly avoid him outside of class these last few days; not difficult, since Junpei seemed to be doing his best to do the same.

So it was with looks of mutual discomfort that they found themselves on intersecting paths leading up to Gekkokan. The last time they'd actually spoken, Junpei had smacked Minato's biggest berserk button with a sledgehammer, and Minato in turn had almost strangled Junpei. "Discomfort" was actually probably an understatement.

They were silent at first, neither willing to speak up before Gekkokan's gates came into full view. Then, finally, Junpei apparently found the quiet unbearable. "So," he began, not looking at his classmate, "exams are coming up, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Minato agreed, inwardly grateful for the -relatively- innocuous subject. "Next week, for all our sins."

"Tch. You can say that again." The Man in the Hat shot him a quick look, before turning away again just as quickly. "You been studying? Feh; like I really need to ask…"

"I have." There really wasn't anything else to say about it; it _was_ the obvious answer, and Minato saw no point in asking if Junpei had done the same. It was equally obvious that the answer to that question would be in the negative.

And considering that exam scores were clearly one of the points of contention, it would obviously risk setting off another argument.

Junpei rolled his eyes. "Yeah, what I figured… Like I actually care…" He fell silent, and apparently couldn't think of anything else safe to say. A few moments of that uncomfortable silence led to him shaking his head with sudden vigor, picking up his pace, and rapidly preceding his "leader" into the school.

_**I don't think he enjoyed Tanabata this year,**_ Pixie remarked.

_You have a gift for understatement. I can't entirely blame him, I'll admit; Yukari's denials have been emphatic enough that I suspect something _did_ happen to them like what happened to Senpai and me, and Junpei obviously didn't come out of it very well._

_**Which does **_**not**_** absolve him of his behavior in general,**_ Valkyrie sniffed. _**You had the right of it that night, Master.**_

_I also _was_ out of line to throttle him like that,_ Minato reminded her. _Calling him out for being reckless loses something when I'm acting just like him at the same time._ He sighed, picking up his own pace in a hurry when he heard the first bell. _You're right, too, though. He keeps this up, I _can't_ have him on the field team. And however I feel about Junpei personally, that's not a good thing. We need all the Persona users we can get._

_**Scout out more of the school,**_ Pyro Jack suggested. _**Persona may be a rare ability, but it's been coming up oddly often lately, in our vicinity. There might be other students who could use it.**_

_Worth looking into,_ Minato conceded. _But it still doesn't solve the underlying problem of Junpei. Sooner or later, we need to bury the hatchet at least well enough to work together, one way or another._

_**Or fight a duel with him,**_ Valkyrie said, snorting. _**That might get the "point" across.**_

* * *

Morning

* * *

If Mister Ono had been any more beside himself with excitement, Minato would've called in his old classmates to exorcise the resulting Apparition. Indeed, the teacher in the samurai helmet was practically bouncing on his feet, radiating enough enthusiasm for _at least_ an extra copy of him.

"Here we go," he said excitedly, "it's finally time! Yes, today we begin covering the Kamakura, and the Samurai enter the stage of history at last!" Ono was grinning like a maniac; Minato thought it a testament to how well-fitted his helmet was that it didn't fly off. "Now, first off… Ah, Minato! You don't really look like a Samurai -well, maybe a ronin- but let's see if your knowledge of your heritage is up to this!"

_Well,_ he thought wryly, looking sidelong at Junpei as he stood, _this is sure calculated to make my home life easier. Not._

"Well, then. This isn't really from the Kamakura era per se," Ono admitted, "but it's interesting anyway. When foreigners first came to Japan, something about the appearance of Samurai scared them out of their wits. What was it?"

"I dunno," Minato heard Junpei mutter, "maybe they were terrified of, y'know, their freakin' _swords_?"

_Good guess, Junpei, but people like that weren't exactly unfamiliar with swords themselves. Although I admit the actual answer, if I'm remembering right, _is_ pretty damn weird._

"If I remember correctly," Minato said, less certain of himself than usual, "it was the hair, wasn't it?" He remembered his grandfather making a disparaging remark about that once, although he couldn't for the life of him remember why foreigners would've found _hair_ so frightening.

Ono was delighted to enlighten him. "Yes, yes, that's it exactly! Now, this may sound silly to you -actually, it sounds absolutely ridiculous to _me_- but the first foreign visitors to Japan were terrified of the Samurai _topknot._" He shook his head, smiling in baffled amusement. "Would you believe they actually thought the topknot's _fired bullets?_ As if! Samurai are _way_ cooler than that! Now," he continued, more seriously, "this _will_ be on the exam next week, so remember it well! We still have much to cover about the Samurai!"

The look Minato exchanged with Junpei was, for once, not acrimonious, merely mutually incredulous. _They thought the Samurai had guns for hair? That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard, and I fight eldritch abominations in my free time!_

_**Worse, Master: somehow this is considered important enough to be on the exams.**_

_**Quick, Master! There's still three days till exams start; more than enough time to find a DeLorean and send Mister Ono back to the era he belongs in!**_

…_Why did I ever let you all experience pop culture? …Oh, yeah. Hard to prevent that when you live in my head. Argh, Jung would have a field day…_

* * *

After School

* * *

Class being over for the day, Minato picked up his stuff and headed out, exchanging a brief nod with Yukari. Junpei, he mostly ignored… somewhat to his regret, to his own surprise. Not because he was partial to Junpei's company at the best of times, but simply because _any_ would've been welcome just now.

After the previous day's… excursion… with Elizabeth, Minato thought he could do with some _normal_ company, but right now, there wasn't much to be had. Yukari was still quietly brooding about something she was handling with Fuuka, Kenji was having "private lessons" with Ms. Kanou, and Kaz was busy trying to find a workaround for his knee issues. Yuko, as he recalled, was hitting the books with a vengeance this time, after a minor tiff with Ekoda…

When he came out of the classroom, he spotted a familiar face. Standing as she often was by the Student Council Room, Chihiro Fushimi was adjusting her glasses and looking over her notes from some class or other.

Her hair was brown, not the black he remembered, but the sight was still similar enough that Minato had a brief moment of déjà vu, remembering another long-haired girl with glasses. After the recent upheaval that was the Tanabata operation, it through him, very briefly, for a loop.

By the time he'd recovered his senses, Minato was already approaching the shy treasurer. "Fushimi-san?" he said quietly, trying not to spook her.

Chihiro started anyway, though not as violently as he'd feared. "H-huh? Oh! Arisato-san!" This time, to her credit, she didn't lose her composure completely, but she was obviously still very uncomfortable. "Um, did you need something?"

_**Tread carefully, Master,**_ Apsaras advised him softly. _**She is delicate, uncertain. Yet in the end, your help is probably exactly what she needs…**_

Well, playing therapist wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but it was something he was willing enough to do. Heaven knew Tsuruya had had quite a time straightening _him_ out, once upon a time.

"It's nothing urgent," Minato said carefully. "I was just wondering you'd like some company after school?" He tried not to sound like he was asking her out; as intriguing as he found the -admittedly cute- treasurer, that wasn't the sort of thing he was looking for just now.

Just as well. Chihiro looked like a deer caught in headlights at the suggestion. "N-no! T-that's- I mean-!" She swallowed hard, trembling. "Er, I'm sorry, Arisato-san, I don't mean to be rude, but I…"

He quickly raised a hand. "No, no, that's okay. Sorry, Fushimi-san, I didn't mean upset you."

Chihiro closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. "Sorry, Arisato-san," she said again, almost in a whisper. "I just… Um, some other time, maybe…?"

"If you're up for it," Minato agreed, stepping back. "Sorry again for disturbing you." He smiled encouragingly. "And… good work with Student Council."

"T-thank you, Arisato-san…"

_Well,_ he thought, as he resumed his trip down the hall, _that wasn't quite what I was expecting. I hope she's okay._

_**Not a matter of specific issue or trauma, I think,**_ Apsaras said slowly. _**Phobia, I believe, Master. With time and care, she could master it. And **_**should,**_** I think; whether it be general agoraphobia or, as I begin to suspect, androphobia, she will have difficulty going through life in such a state.**_

_Therapist it is, then._ Minato shook his head wryly. _Maybe that's something else I should talk to Tsu-chan about when next I see her… Hm?_

His phone was vibrating. Pulling it out, he found a text message from Akihiko: _"Ikutsuki-san is coming to the dorm tonight. He has something to tell us. We'll meet on the fourth floor, as usual."_

_Well. That should be interesting._

* * *

Evening

* * *

"…So that about covers the Tanabata Operation, I think," Mitsuru finished. "Unless anyone else has something to offer that I've forgotten?"

She looked over the rest of the team, gathered together around the table in the Command Room. Yukari and Junpei, Minato noticed, both looked uncomfortable, and Mitsuru herself wasn't _quite_ as calm she normally projected.

_Not surprising,_ he thought, remembering certain events that his Senpai had very carefully _not_ mentioned in her report to Ikutsuki. _Well, they're not really relevant to what happened overall, and we've got empirical data from the battles themselves about the mind manipulation the Shadows used._

_No need to drag up little things like the two of us almost sleeping together._

"I see," Ikutsuki said gravely, when it was clear no one had anything to add to Mitsuru's summary. "So, while their battle capabilities may not have been on the level of the Empress or Emperor Shadows, their less direct methods were very dangerous in their own right… They're getting tougher." He nodded to himself. "However," he went on, "it's not all bad news! I actually came here tonight to-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Yukari cut in, leaning forward. "But before we go on, there's something that we really need to talk about."

The group turned almost as one to the brunette. It was unusual, to say the least, for her to interrupt so suddenly, leaving even Minato, who of the group probably knew her best, very surprised. Well. Almost the rest of the group. Fuuka twitched, but looked more uncomfortable than truly surprised.

"Is something the matter, Yukari?" Ikutsuki said after a moment, ceding the floor to her.

"There's something I think needs to be cleared up before we go any further, yeah," Yukari said, face and voice unusually intent. She looked not to Ikutsuki, though, but rather Mitsuru. "Senpai, there's something you've been hiding from us, isn't there?"

"Hiding from you?"

Mitsuru's response was a little too quick, and Minato could hardly miss the guilty look that crossed her face. Not that he was surprised; as he'd told Yukari himself, weeks earlier, he'd realized she wasn't telling them everything right from the start.

"Yuka-tan," Junpei began, rolling his eyes, "give it a rest, will ya? There's nothing-"

"No," Ikutsuki interrupted, watching closely, "let her speak her mind." His glasses were glinting in the light, in an effect Minato found disturbingly reminiscent of Edogawa in his odder moods.

Yukari barely seemed to notice the distraction. "Look, I've been uneasy about this right from the start, but I've let it slide. Now… I just can't do it anymore. So I've been doing some digging… Ten years ago. Ten years ago, there was an explosion in Port Island, that was never explained. An explosion that occurred not just anywhere in Port Island, but in the very school we go to every day. Or rather, its predecessor, since the original was more or less leveled in the blast. A lot of people were _killed_ in that blast, according to the reports."

No mistaking it; Mitsuru visibly flinched at that. Minato was interested to note that Akihiko didn't look especially comfortable either, effectively confirming his own suspicion that the boxer knew more about what was going on than the juniors had been told. _Considering that he and Senpai supposedly go back a few years, right to the beginning of SEES itself, I'd be more surprised if it were otherwise. He does usually hide it reasonably well, though._

Yukari also caught Mitsuru's slip, and her eyes narrowed. "According to those same reports," she went on, watching very carefully indeed, "no students were killed, amazingly enough. Still, it was a Kirijo Group building, technically, so I'm guessing you know all that already, don't you?"

"…Yes." Mitsuru's response was so quiet as to be almost inaudible, but it was unmistakable. "Yes, I know of the incident."

"Of course you do." Yukari nodded, though whether in acknowledgement of Mitsuru's words, or some confirmed theory of her own, Minato wasn't sure. "Of course, there was more to it than that, wasn't there? No deaths, sure. But I was able to dig up some old school records, which showed that an awful lot of students were reported 'absent' about then, with no specific reason given."

_That reminds me of what happened with Fuuka,_ Minato thought. _Bet it gets worse._ He wondered, then, just where Yukari had found the information. The school itself didn't have records going back that far; he knew, having checked very carefully the last time he broke into the Faculty Office.

Mitsuru was looking distinctly uncomfortable now, and Yukari pressed the attack. "No reason was given, but I was still able to find out some things from contemporary reports. The students in question were apparently found unconscious and had to be hospitalized. Sound familiar? Like, maybe, Yuzuhira and friends? The symptoms certainly matched what we know as Apathy Syndrome." Her glare could've set something on fire, now. "Tell me, Senpai. A mysterious explosion, in the spot where Tartarus appears, and students becoming the Lost years before we ever entered the picture. Is that _really_ a coincidence?"

Silence fell, with all eyes on Mitsuru Kirijo. What happened next, Minato knew, was like his own altercation with Junpei days ago: the course she chose could determine whether SEES grew stronger, or fell apart completely.

_What path will you take, Senpai?_ he wondered. _I sympathize with keeping secrets -heaven knows I've got skeletons in _my_ closest- but I think, if you don't come clean now, it'll probably break the group completely. Akihiko will stay, and, hell, _I_ probably will, but the others…_

At last, Mitsuru sighed. "No. It's not a coincidence, Takeba."

"Then what is it?!" Yukari demanded, coming to her feet. "What are you hiding from us?!"

"I wasn't hiding it," Mitsuru said softly, unable to meet her kohai's eyes. "It… just never seemed relevant, is all."

_I don't think any of us quite buys _that_ line, Senpai. Yet somehow, I don't think it was out of maliciousness, was it?_

"It's all right, Mitsuru," Ikutsuki put in, more or less confirming Minato's suspicions. "You've been told this many times: it was _not_ your fault. None of it was. None of it _could_ be."

Mitsuru didn't react to the reassurance. Minato couldn't blame her; whether Ikutsuki was right or not would do nothing about her own feelings, if any, of guilt. He knew all too well that the "facts" were little defense against a guilty conscience.

She was silent a long time, but it was the silence of someone gathering their thoughts, not prevaricating. "All right," she said quietly. "I'll tell you everything. As much as I know, anyway… which is probably most of the story." Mitsuru closed her eyes, thinking back. "You know the Shadows have many mysterious, unexplained abilities, of course. The fact is, even now we really _don't_ know the full extent of their nature or capabilities. It's true, though, that we haven't been idle all these years, and research has shown that Shadows may actually be able to affect time and space."

"That's not a good sign," Minato said, wincing. "Reality warping never ends well."

Mitsuru didn't ask him how he knew that. She only nodded in acknowledgement. "You're right, Arisato. But it gets worse. You see, _we_ think of Shadows as our enemies, for good reason… but what if someone thought they could be used? That their power could be harnessed?"

"Harnessed?" Yukari whispered, slowly sinking back into her seat. "Harnessed for… what…?"

Minato's eyes widened. "Ship in a bottle," he breathed.

The brunette glanced at him. "What?"

He waved a hand. "Long story. Tell you later."

_Damn. So Tsukishima wasn't the only lunatic who had ideas like that, huh? …I've got a bad feeling about this._

"Fourteen years ago," Mitsuru continued, giving Minato only a curious glance, "there was one man who thought that way, who dreamed of using that power. A man with the resources to do it… Kouetsu Kirijo. My grandfather." She grimaced. "He was completely obsessed with Shadows. I… even I don't know exactly what he was intending to do, but supposedly, he wanted to use the power of Shadows to create something the world had never seen. Something that would change… everything."

"Change everything?" Fuuka echoed, entering the discussion at last. "What… what do you mean?"

"As I said, I'm not completely sure," Mitsuru admitted heavily. "But he wanted to change the entire world, somehow… Arisato, you sound like you've encountered something like that…?"

Minato shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The memories associated were a mix of hilarious, terrifying, and just about as awkward as the hotel room incident with Mitsuru herself. _Well. Awkward for _me,_ maybe. Tsu-chan found it hilarious…_

All eyes were on him now, though, so he couldn't get away with total silence. However much he wanted to. "Ship in a bottle," he said reluctantly. "Very long story. The relevant point is that it involved spatial manipulation, similar to Tartarus, albeit on a much smaller scale. Suffice to say there's a _lot_ you can do in a place where you've got direct control over the fabric of local space-time." Minato shook his head. "But what I saw was only on a very small scale. Humans simply don't have the power to super-size it."

"Humans don't," Mitsuru agreed, looking at the floor. "_Humans_ don't. My grandfather… he brought together a team of the finest scientists he could find, from all over the world. Then, with their help, he began to assemble a very large number of Shadows."

Junpei, ever the most gung-ho member of the team, went bone white. "What the hell- Was he out of his _mind?!"_

"Probably," she told him. "…At any rate, ten years, during the final phase of the experiment, something went wrong. They lost control of the Shadows. The resulting explosion killed everyone involved, including my grandfather, and destroyed the lab. As a result, the nature of the world itself was altered."

"The Dark Hour," Minato said grimly, receiving a nod in return.

_Which leaves one interesting question. I originally assumed I'd never experienced the Dark Hour because I hadn't been to Port Island since it came into existence. But lately I've heard it's not limited by location, so… why did I first experience it only the night I arrived here?_

Mitsuru wasn't finished with her tale yet. "Records from the end of the experiment are, naturally, very sketchy. Everything that could be determined in the aftermath, however, indicated that the mass of Shadows split off into several distinct, unusually large Shadows." She closed her eyes again. "As you probably suspect, these are the Shadows we've been fighting every Full Moon."

"Which is why they've appeared outside of Tartarus," Fuuka realized, nodding. "But… wait, does that mean…?"

Yukari gasped, staring at Mitsuru. "Wait. Just… wait a second. If this explosion, and the one I mentioned earlier, were the same thing… then that means…!"

The redhead looked away. "Yes. The original Gekkokan High School was the location of the laboratory. I don't know why they chose that building, specifically, but Port Island as a whole seems to have been built more or less to be a secure location for the experiments. The Kirijo Group has influence over virtually everything here."

_A regular old "Company Town". …Damn it, I knew Old Man Kirijo was a bastard, but even Kisaragi-san's stories didn't suggest he was _that_ nuts._

Yukari's face had gone white from shock, but was now edging into red with raw anger. "So you've been lying to us, all this time," she said, coming to her feet, fists clenched so tight they shook. "All this time, wondering what it is that we're fighting, and why… and it turns out we're just cleaning up the Kirijo Group's mess?!" She turned on Akihiko. "And you, Senpai! _You've_ known the truth the whole time, too, haven't you?! They're just using us! But you don't care, do you, so long as you get a good _fight!"_

"That's not true!" Akihiko snapped back, eyes flashing. "I have my own reasons!"

"So do I," Minato said sharply, drawing Yukari's attention. "Truth or lies, I'm _not_ just a pawn, Yukari." His eyes narrowed. "And quite frankly, neither are _you._ Whatever disservice may have been done here, you _knew_ from Day One that you weren't being told everything, and you kept going anyway. Specifically to _find_ the truth, maybe, but you still knew, and _chose_ to fight despite the ignorance."

"And you?" she challenged. "Can you really say you'd have done the same, knowing _this?"_

"I am a far worse person than Senpai, Yukari," the swordsman said bluntly. "Obfuscation is the _least_ of my sins. And because of what I've done, I'll be _damned_ if I sit by and watch people be hunted like _animals_ if I can do something to stop it." He looked away. "Hell," he went on, almost inaudibly, "maybe I'm damned already…"

There was a long silence at that. Yukari had no particular comeback, and none of the others knew exactly what to say about any of it. Fuuka was looking overwhelmed, as though hearing shouting no one else could; Junpei was alternating between giving Minato a very strange look, and glancing at their seniors as if he didn't quite know _what_ to think.

Actually, kind of like he didn't know quite what to think about _himself._

"…Think what you want," Mitsuru said finally, sounding weary. "I made the decision not to disclose the full truth, because I felt SEES needed all of the help it could get. As absurd as it may sound, I truly believe we -Persona users- are the only ones who stop the Shadows, and that may be more important than any of us know."

Yukari wheeled back to glare at her. "That still doesn't excuse tricking us into joining."

"Some of us were never given a choice at all, Takeba."

Minato's gaze snapped back to his Senpai; to his surprise, she met his eyes. She seemed recognize what he was thinking, and gave a very small, very brief nod.

_Damnation and hellfire. I was right about those scars, wasn't I?_

Akihiko caught the exchanged look, and gave Mitsuru one of his own. "Mitsuru… don't. Don't do this to yourself."

"Akihiko is right," Ikutsuki agreed, smiling gently. "Yukari, everyone… Mitsuru is not at fault here. Those who performed the experiment are to blame, and they paid for their arrogance, their folly, with their lives. All of us here are in the same boat: innocent victims who don't deserve the burden that chance has thrust upon us."

As if she'd begun to run out of steam, Yukari slowly sank back into her seat again. The red was beginning to retreat from her face, replaced with simple exhaustion. "But… still…"

"I understand, Yukari, believe me. But, ten years now since the incident, the Shadows from that day have become active again." Ikutsuki adjusted his glasses. "And because they're active, we've been able to destroy six of them, and we can now predict when the others will appear. Don't you realize what that means?"

_I feel like I should. But right now, I'm too damn tired. I _hate_ shouting matches, they're more exhausting than fighting Shadows…_

The Chairman smiled again. "What if I were to tell you that those twelve Shadows are the key to everything? The cornerstone, if you will?"

Akihiko was the first to get it, maybe because he was the least emotionally exhausted. "Then," he said slowly, eyes widening, "that would mean… destroying them would finish it all? Tartarus, the Dark Hour?"

"Everything," Ikutsuki confirmed, grinning outright. "That's what I was going to tell you in the first place! We're halfway to ending _all_ of this. See, I _told_ you there was good news!"

Fuuka sagged back against the couch, as if more than her share of the tension had suddenly left her. "Are… are you sure?" she whispered.

"Well," he admitted with a shrug, "any theory is of course subject to confirmation through experiment, but the evidence thus far certainly suggests it!" The Chairman turned to Yukari. "I understand your problem, Yukari, really. But whatever may have happened in the past, _our_ duty is to those living in the present. The Shadows are gaining strength, and SEES is all that stands in their path. And many mysteries still remain; for all that we know the origin point, we still don't know _why_ Tartarus appeared, or its meaning.

"The answer to that question, and so many others, must lie within it. And you young people, you're the only ones who can find that answer."

_Answers… Yeah. Senpai came clean, but I believe her when she says even she doesn't know everything that went down. Why should she? She was barely older than I was, when everything went to hell, and given what those scars tell me, I'm betting there's a lot that the Group never told her._

_Probably a lot that the Group didn't tell her father, either._

* * *

_Awakening. Again, I am aware, even though I should not be. I remain in standby mode, yet this time I can determine that only two months and two days have elapsed since last I was aware. This should not be happening, and yet it is._

_I am a weapon. A machine. Random reactivation should not be possible. Despite this, more and more systems are reactivating. My database remains damaged, but my remaining cognitive functions are returning to full active status._

_Full sensory input is returning. Automatic diagnostics are checking my internal systems and onboard weaponry. …Motor control functions are being restored._

_The unease I felt upon my last awakening is returning, stronger than ever. This appears to be what disturbed my standby state. I cannot ignore it any longer: something that I cannot remember… has gone wrong._

_I am a weapon. I am subordinate to my makers' will, yet something is telling me that I must disobey their orders to carry out a more important mission. I do not know what. I do not know why. I only feel it as a compulsion, as deep as any hard-wired command._

_I can access the maintenance chamber's computers now, and the databases beyond. If I must obey this strange command, now is not the time; I must wait… wait until some factor I do not remember is in place. Until then… I will watch, and learn._

_Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon 007, entering Surveillance Mode. End line._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

Well. Not much to say this time, I guess, except that this chapter got just a tad larger than I expected. Still, most of it wasn't exactly copy-pasted from the game, with -if I may say so myself- some sizable twists on the canon events. Hopefully I can maintain the trend.

Yakushima should be coming up shortly. Don't know about you guys, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Oh, and thank you, those of you who pointed out my mistake about the first Full Moon Shadow. Not sure how I made the mistake in the first place -since elsewhere in the chapter I _do_ correctly identify as the Magician- but somehow, I did, and didn't notice until it was mentioned. Thanks.

Think that's about everything. Hope this was decent, even if it did run a little long; and maybe I can continue the trend of _not_ taking years between chapters. -Solid


	10. Chapter X: Hearts and Minds

Sunday, July 12th, 2009, Daytime

* * *

No one in their right mind visited a certain alleyway behind Port Island Station unless they were the kind of person who fit in there. Teenage delinquents, mostly, with a smattering of "grown-up" toughs, like your average drug dealer. Not too many of the latter, though, since the Port Island delinquents tended to scare even them.

Well, almost no one. If you _looked_ the part, you could fit in, even if behind the façade all you really wanted was to be left alone… or to atone. Like dealing with any other kind of predators, just looking as if you were more predator yourself than prey could work wonders-especially if you looked like a bigger hunter than those around you.

Shinjiro Aragaki had taken advantage of that for a long time now. He didn't give a damn about the real delinquents around him, and he had no interest in the casual lawbreaking they tended to indulge in. He came to the alley behind Port Island Station because it was isolated from the kind of people who might see through him, and because _it_ had happened there.

There wasn't much to do here, if you didn't fit in with the street toughs. For Shinjiro, though, that wasn't the point. Even on a Sunday, he still came here, doing little more than people-watching, and staying the hell out of the way of society.

"What exactly do you _do_ around here all the time, anyway?"

Shinjiro snorted under his breath. That was the _other_ kind of non-delinquent who came to the Port Island Station alley. The kind who was too soft for his own good, even if he probably could thrash everyone there barehanded.

"I mean, seriously," Akihiko went on, strolling down the alley toward the youth in the trench coat, "doesn't this get boring? You don't even like the people around here, for heaven's sake."

By rights, he should've been a target for the local riffraff. One look at his biceps, and the fact that for all his casual demeanor he was wearing brass knuckles on both hands, made the locals think twice. The fact that he was talking to Shinjiro Aragaki, who had recently given a reminder that _he_ wasn't to be underestimated, was just icing on the threatening cake.

"Tch," Shinjiro scoffed, leaning back against the stairs he was perched on. "What the hell're you doing here, anyway?" His eyes narrowed, remembering their last conversation. "If it's about the usual, I'll tell you again, like always: buzz the hell off."

Akihiko waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, nothing like that. C'mon, Shinji, even I'm not gonna try to make a stone bleed _every_ time. I just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all."

_That's all? Yeah, right, Aki. I can see right through you, even if you can't._

Despite Shinjiro's gruffness, Akihiko settled onto the stairs by his side. "Hard to believe," he mused.

Shinjiro glanced at him sidelong. _Okay, I'll bite._ "What is?"

"That it's been almost fourteen years. Since we first met, I mean." The boxer stared up into the sky, looking at something only he could see; though Shinjiro could guess. "You, me, Miki… back then, at the orphanage, it felt like we had all the time in the world… We'd even run around _this_ place till sunset, back before the delinquents took it over…"

_Oh, hell. This again?_ Shinjiro sighed internally. _Not like I don't sympathize, Aki, but seriously… how can you say some of this stuff with a straight face? And how the hell can you claim to be any different from me, when you talk like that?_

Outwardly, he maintained his gruff, irritable look. "If you're just gonna blather about the past, I ain't interested. Go be sappy with your other friends; they looked soft enough for it." He stood, beginning to turn away.

"Soft…? What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean, Shinji?" Akihiko demanded, also coming back to his feet.

"What do you think?" Shinjiro said over his shoulder. "Not that it's really the point, right now. You, talking about the past like that? You usually just charge on ahead and break things with your head. So what's _really_ on your mind?"

Akihiko sighed. "You still see right through me, don't you? I _do_ reminisce sometimes; I just don't usually see the point. Done is done, and all… But you're right. Something did get me to thinking lately… See, we've finally found out how to get rid of the Dark Hour."

Shinjiro slowly turned back around, unable to keep the surprise off his face. For all that he stayed out of things now, for all that he tried to forget what he'd been, and what he'd done, he was still as caught up in the Dark Hour itself as anyone else. For all that he wanted no part of SEES, that didn't mean he no longer agreed with their goals.

"…Are you kiddin' me?" he said slowly.

"We've got a good lead," Akihiko confirmed, smiling. "And we're already halfway there." His smile faded. "You know, ever since that day, all I've worried about is getting stronger, strong enough to never be helpless again. But… something came up yesterday. Something that made me start to wonder about my reasons for fighting."

Shinjiro nodded slowly. That one he could sympathize with unreservedly, even now. To get involved in something as big as the Dark Hour, you had to have a reason. To keep fighting Shadows, night after night, without just saying "To hell with it!" took more than just the ability to fight. You needed a goal, a cause.

If you lost it, or something shook your belief in the rightness of that reason…

"Everybody does this stuff for their own reason," he said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It's different for everybody, and nobody call tell you what your reason should be. You gotta figure that out for yourself; and if you decide it's not good enough after all, well. Then you can just quit, right? Like I did."

"I'm not like you," Akihiko shot back, mustering a half-hearted glare. "I'm uncertain, yeah, but I can't just stop now…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "I don't believe this. _You're_ lecturing _me?_"

"Sometimes you're the one who needs it," Shinjiro said bluntly, and began to turn away again. Then, as something else occurred to him, he paused. "You wanna know about reasons to fight? You should talk to your friend, the one who looks like he's in a Hong Kong blood opera. Bet he could tell you a thing or two."

The boxer blinked. "You mean… Minato? I didn't know you knew him."

"I don't." Shinjiro started walking away for real now. "But I saw him fight. Look in the obituaries from wherever he used to live sometime, and I bet you'll see something interesting. But _he_ keeps on going, and he looked willing to kill for his friends when he was here. You'll probably get more talking to him than you would me."

There was silence for several moments, long enough for him to get almost out of earshot. Then, at the last, he heard a mutter. "…See you around, Shinji."

_Feh. Aki, you haven't changed one bit, you know that? Truth is, you're no different than I am… you're just better at closing your eyes than me. You're as tied to the past as me, just in a different way._

_Hell… sometimes I envy you for that. But it won't change anything. It won't change what I did. Nothing ever will._

* * *

_Kyoto… Tokyo… Hinamizawa… Inaba… Nishinomiya… The key has to be in one of them…_

Looking at Fuuka Yamagishi, most people wouldn't likely expect her frankly phenomenal skill with computers. Shy, frequently "ill", and more bookish than geeky, she came across more as shrinking violet bully magnet than a typical nerd.

Yet both her desktop computer and her laptop she'd actually constructed herself, assembling the components she deemed best suited to her own normal computer usage; she'd even heavily altered the operating systems to suit her own needs. It wasn't something she liked to talk about much, especially since her parents looked down on her habits, but it was something she was very quietly proud of.

Fuuka also didn't look the part of a detective, and normally, _that_ impression was actually accurate. Her recent research for Yukari aside, she wasn't given to snooping, and _definitely_ wasn't one to dig into someone else's obviously unpleasant past… under normal circumstances. These, however, were not normal.

She wasn't comfortable with the research she was doing now, but she also couldn't stand not knowing anymore. The first time she'd met Minato Arisato, he'd been leading her own rescue effort, and in the middle of it had acted with suicidal determination to protect her, despite -or perhaps because of- what was obviously a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. His behavior and his abilities had been completely outside the norm for a simple "high school student"; but when Fuuka asked the rest of the team about it afterwards, they hadn't known anything, either.

In fact, as far as Fuuka could tell, _nobody_ in SEES or the school proper really knew anything about Minato's past, except that his parents were dead, he'd lived mostly with his sister and grandfather, and he liked to tell tall tales that might or might not have any basis in fact. For all that he was friendly and seemingly outgoing, a cursory look revealed him to be basically a blank.

Fuuka normally would've let that slide. Not really her business, after all-except that he _was_ their leader in the field, and that position required a certain amount of trust. It was also very clear, based on what happened the night she was rescued, that his past had the potential to affect his performance in battle, and that was something that needed to be accounted for.

She'd have felt guiltier about it, but he _had_ thoroughly investigated her, first. _Fair's fair,_ Fuuka reasoned. _He'd probably even agree with me on that point… I think._

The first thing Fuuka had done was to very quietly obtain a copy of the background check the Kirijo Group had done on Minato. A very cursory glance at it had told her that it was either heavily edited or outright fabricated, but it had given her a place to start, with the locations he'd at least supposedly lived at prior to returning to Port Island.

"Minato Arisato", she had discovered almost at once, was an alias. She still didn't know what his real name was, but the paper trail for "Arisato" only went back as far as Nishinomiya; nothing prior to the documents used for his entrance into North High School was verifiable. Whatever had prompted him to assume his current identity, therefore, presumably occurred before that. Possibly another alias preceded it, but she somehow doubted that, based on his medical records.

Those records indicated a severe, violent injury some four to five years in the past. That tended to rule out anything prior to his time in Hinamizawa -not to mention his simple age made anything _that_ far back unlikely- and a quick search of Hinamizawa-related news had turned up nothing of interest more recent than the 1980s. Fuuka also had noticed Minato's tendency toward rapid healing, so she didn't take the medical report as gospel regarding timing.

All of which, so far, seemed to mark Inaba as the place to focus her search. Eventually, she'd look more deeply into the circumstances of his parents' deaths -after the research she'd done for Yukari, Fuuka found the timing somehow unsettling- but the Inaba lead seemed the mostly to pinpoint his exact identity.

Fuuka was just beginning to look into old Inaba newspaper articles when she heard a knock on her door. "Yes?" she called, quickly minimizing the current window on her desktop.

"It's me," was the reply. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Senpai?" Fuuka stood and crossed to her door, wondering what Mitsuru would want with her. "Please, come in."

After allowing the redhead in, both moved to sit, Mitsuru on the edge of the bed, Fuuka back by her computer. Rather to Fuuka's relief, her senpai wasn't simmering with old pain or recent humiliation this time; whatever had happened on Tanabata, and whatever she'd been remembering during the previous night's meeting, seemed to have retreated from the forefront of her mind. She seemed fully as reserved as she often appeared on the surface, and in this case Fuuka took that to be a good sign.

There was a small spike of amusement as Mitsuru glanced at the younger girl's computer. "You really are amazing, Yamagishi," she commented. "Your skill at providing battle support far surpasses mine, and on top of that, you excel at gathering information."

Fuuka flinched guiltily, both at the obvious reference to the digging she'd done for Yukari, and the way it reminded her of her current prying. "Sorry," she murmured, looking away. "I… I didn't mean to cause trouble…"

"You didn't," Mitsuru assured her, shaking her head. "The fact is, Takeba was probably right that that needed to be brought out into the open. That _is_ why I'm here, but not to scold you for it." She took a deep breath. "I know Takeba already asked you to do this, but I'd like you to find out everything you can about the incident from ten years ago."

"You would?" Fuuka blinked, surprised by the request. "I mean, I'd be happy to, but Senpai, there really isn't much more available than what I already showed Yukari-chan. Almost nothing was ever made public to begin with."

"I know." Mitsuru pursed her lips. "Which is why I'd like you to access the Kirijo Group's database on the subject."

Fuuka froze. Technically speaking, she was almost certainly capable of it; it wasn't a skill she advertised, far less so than her skill at putting together and programming computers, but she'd dabbled in code breaking in the past. _Very_ carefully, and more to broaden her general programming skills than anything else, but she _could_ do it. Even so…

"You mean, _hack_ their system?" she said carefully. "Senpai… that's illegal."

Mitsuru nodded gravely. "I know. Which is why I'll give you my user ID and password; if anyone comes looking, I'll be the one to bear the responsibility; you'll be completely free of accountability on the subject. I'm the one asking you to do it, so I should suffer whatever consequences may result." She looked away. "I want to know the truth, too."

It was an unusually vulnerable moment for the senior. Fuuka hadn't known the team as a whole very long, but she'd gotten a feel for how they usually presented themselves to the world; Junpei's cocky, gung-ho attitude, Yukari's energetic but occasional sarcastic bearing, Minato's _very_ sarcastic commentary and general "seen it all" façade, Akihiko's casual yet occasionally hot-blooded nature…

Mitsuru, she generally associated with reserve. The heiress was capable of genuine humor and friendliness, but she tended to hold her cards close to her chest, much like Minato. Fuuka could feel what lay beneath, but it was very unusual for her to openly display it.

Now, Mitsuru seemed to take Fuuka's hesitation as reluctance. "Of course, I'll understand if you refuse," she said gently. "This is something of a risk, even with the safeguards…"

"I'll see what I can do," Fuuka interrupted her, thinking quickly. For it to be really secure, she'd have to fudge things like IP address as well, but that would be fairly simple; with an authorized user's ID and password, the rest would be… "Yes, I think I can handle it, Senpai."

Mitsuru looked at her closely. "Are you sure, Yamagishi?"

"Absolutely," she said firmly. "It's something we all need to know, isn't it?"

"…Yes. Yes, you're right about that." The redhead smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Yamagishi. I really appreciate it." She stood, making her way to the door, then stopped, smile fading. "Yamagishi… doesn't it bother you at all? Takeba was _right,_ you know; I did essentially trick all of you into joining SEES, without explaining what was really going on. You can't tell me that doesn't make you even a little bit angry."

That she was genuinely concerned about it, Fuuka could tell beyond a doubt. Yet Fuuka, too, had known right off that not everything was being said, and like Akihiko and Minato, she had her own reasons for going along with it anyway. Nothing that had been said last night changed her own reasons for being here, selfish as they might be.

"I'm not angry at all, Senpai," she said at length, surprising Mitsuru. She paused then, considering just how much to say, before settling on full honesty. In SEES, laying all cards on the table was really starting to seem the smart thing to do. "You see, I… don't really like living at home. Most of my relatives are doctors, but my parents aren't, and they've got an inferiority complex over it." Fuuka looked away. "They're really tough on me because of it."

Mitsuru nodded slowly. "Which is why you were absent due to 'illness' so much even before the bullying started," she realized.

"Yeah," Fuuka confirmed. "It's hard to keep up with that kind of pressure… But here, I feel like I'm actually important, like I can make a real difference." She smiled shyly. "Why should I be angry about being in a position like that, however I may have gotten there?"

Her senpai slowly smiled in return. "You're right, Yamagishi. You _are_ making a difference; we'd all have died without you, more than once. No one can replace you here. _You_, as much as our 'ace', make it possible for us to finally end this."

Fuuka blushed. "U-um, well… I…"

Mitsuru chuckled lightly. "Thank you, Yamagishi. I'll see you around."

The redhead left before Fuuka could think of a response. Left also without closure to the embarrassment that she was now feeling, she could do little but turn back to what she'd been doing when Mitsuru arrived, hoping that it would take her mind off the unaccustomed praise.

It did. Within moments, she'd found a headline that sent a chill down her spine, chasing the warmth of embarrassment right out.

_**Small Town Erupts With Big City Violence; Kidnapping Of Local Girl Turns To Yakuza Bloodbath…**_

* * *

Port Island Station was always busy on Sundays, from the increased gang activity in the back alley to the booming business of the local theater and flower shop. Along with Paulownia Mall, it was one of the more popular commercial areas in the Iwatodai/Port Island area, and this time of day, this time of week, it was crowded.

Junpei didn't realize notice, even though he was on a bench not too far from the Screen Shot Theater. He was staring off into space, oblivious to those around him; his attention was entirely on the revelations of the previous night, and the events of the recently-passed Tanabata.

"So," he muttered to himself, "if we keep this up just a little longer, Tartarus and the Dark Hour will be gone, huh? No more Shadows, no more Lost, none of that stuff? …Tch!"

He'd been involved in the mess with the Dark Hour only a little over two months, not even as long as _him,_ but it was already so deeply ingrained into his routine that it seemed like it had always been there. Like he'd been fighting Shadows all his life.

By rights, Junpei knew, he should've hated it. Should've already gotten tired of the sleepless nights that visits to Tartarus, let alone Full Moon Operations, tended to cause. Any sane person would've already been nearing burnout. And yet…

"That's a good thing. Getting rid of a threat to all Mankind… that's supposed to be the winning conditions of all this, right?" Junpei looked up to the sky, as if hoping for an answer from above. "So… why the _hell_ am I so _mad_ about it?!"

As if to underscore the point that he was trying very, very hard not to think about, a couple of older students came out of Screen Shot, chattering to themselves. "Oh, wow, is it hot. Even for July, this is crazy; and these uniforms really aren't suited for this."

The other student laughed. "Seriously. But hey, at least we're seniors now; we won't be wearing these stupid uniforms for much longer."

"There is that. Man, I've had it with all this… I just wanna get into college and start having some _fun,_ darn it!"

Another laugh. "Yeah, but that's if you even get _accepted,_ remember…"

Their voices trailed off with distance, but the damage to Junpei's self-deception had been done. The truth he'd been trying to deny was staring him right in the face, and he couldn't look away any longer. He'd barely held it off after his "leader" threw down the metaphorical gauntlet to begin with.

"…Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I know why/ It's got nothin' to do with anyone else, or right or wrong… It's _me._ I was all, like, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. 'I have the power to make a difference, so I should put it to good use…' But hell, that's not really why I'm fighting, is it? I'm fighting 'cause it's the only thing I'm actually good at. Without it… what the hell _am_ I good for? Nothing, that's what."

"_You have no idea what the _hell_ you're talking about. You wanna be a hero? You wanna be the war machine?"_

"Yeah… that's exactly it." Junpei laughed quietly, bitterly. "Responsibility? Making a difference? Hell, all I want _is_ to be a hero… and I can't even do that, can I? I can't even fight worth squat." He grimaced. "Not like Minato _freakin'_ Arisato, anyway."

He'd never attended the Kendo Team's practice sessions, but he'd seen Minato in action time and again now, and as much as he wanted to deny it, as much as he wanted to claim the blue-haired swordsman was a show-off, Junpei couldn't deny that Minato got _results,_ and did so with a practiced grace he couldn't hope to match. As much as he'd like to mock it, he _knew_ the particular style Minato practiced was one of the most complicated there was, yet the SEES field leader made it look easy.

As much as Junpei wanted to never, ever admit it, he knew that in a fight between them Minato would destroy him, Persona or no Persona.

"Dammit! Nothing I do is good enough!"

"_You want to be a _hero,_ Junpei? Then stop _trying_ to be one, and start _acting_ like one!"_

"_Well let me tell you something, Junpei Iori. You want to be a hero, you'd better understand what it _costs!"

Junpei hung his head. "Dammit," he said again, voice sinking to a whisper. "I just don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore…"

* * *

"I just don't know what I'm doing anymore…"

A typically girlish dorm room, complete with posters of music bands and a fair bit of pink. A bow hung on one wall, along with a quiver; one of the traditional weapons of the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype, still popular among certain segments of the population. The girl sitting on the bed, also seeming like a typical high school girl, with form-fitting jeans and a pink tank top, a choker with a heart-shaped clasp fastened around her neck.

So very typical, on the surface. So very… _not,_ beneath the façade of normality. On the desk beneath the bow lay a pistol case, containing a very unusual weapon; this was the least of what separated Yukari Takeba from her peers.

She held in her hand a letter, paper worn by the number of times she'd read it since it first arrived, a letter that had set her onto the path she'd walked for the past year. A path she'd walked without hesitation, despite her misgivings… until now.

Yukari had known from the beginning that she wasn't being told everything. The number of clues that had begun to add up on top of that had prompted her to enlist Fuuka's aid in finding out what really happened, in the end forcing the confrontation with Mitsuru the previous evening. Yet when the truth did finally begin to come out, she'd found she hadn't been nearly as prepared for it as she'd thought.

That the Kirijo Group, Mitsuru in particular, had been hiding things from the junior members of SEES, Yukari had long since realized. That they had, in fact, been _responsible_ for the entire situation, that she'd spent the past several months helping to clean up something they'd set into motion to begin with, wasn't a revelation that she'd been at all prepared for, and now, she just… didn't know what to think.

She had joined SEES for one reason, originally: to learn the truth behind her father's death. She still hadn't quite managed that, but she was coming close. Along the way, she'd begun to realize that they really were all that stood between the Shadows and mass death, and preventing that had seemed a worthy goal all by itself. Now, even that seemingly simple idea was wavering within her, for she was fighting those Shadows under the auspices of the very same organization that had inadvertently set them loose to begin with.

Yukari wanted to blame Mitsuru, wanted to lay the responsibility for "tricking" SEES entirely at the senior's feet. When she began her tirade the previous night, she'd more or less intended to do exactly that. And yet…

"_Some of us were never given a choice at all, Takeba."_

"_Truth or lies, I'm _not_ just a pawn, Yukari. And quite frankly, neither are _you."

Yukari sighed, and looked down at the letter in her hands. "Am I stupid to believe in trust and friendship?" she whispered. "Mitsuru-senpai implied she's been used as much as any of us, while Minato suggested he's not who we think he is… Can I really trust _anything_ anymore?" She closed her eyes, thinking back to a face she scarcely recalled anymore, outside of photographs. "Dad… This old letter of yours, I must've read it a thousand times since it arrived, just last spring…"

Even after ten years, even with how often he'd been absent while he was still alive, somehow she could still hear his voice as she read once more over the words her father had left for her.

"_March 6__th__, 2000,"_ the letter was dated. A mere month before the explosion… _"To my family. Tomorrow, I'll bring this letter to the opening ceremony of the Moonlight Bridge. It'll be stored in a time capsule, to be sent ten years from now."_

In the end, it had only been nine years. Yukari still wasn't sure why; it had arrived completely anonymously, accompanied only by a note saying that the time capsule had only just been found in old archives. What that meant, she didn't know.

"_Yukari… You're so small right now, but in ten years, you'll be in high school. Almost all grown up, huh? I can't wait to see how you are then…"_

She sniffed, wondering how her father _would_ feel about how she'd turned out. She was doing well in school, was, in her own modest opinion, doing well on the Archery Team, and was managing to stand on her own despite her family troubles. Yet academic and social success aside, she knew well the issues that lay at her own core. Issues like the one that had led her to confront Mitsuru, knowing the damage it could do to the entire team.

"_I know you've been sad because of how late I've had to work, yet you always greet me with a smile. It makes it all feel worth it, you know? I'm really proud of how things are turning out at work, mind you. Kirijo-san appointed me Head Researcher at the lab here, a really important post. I'll be starting on a big project soon, and I'm happy to be receiving this kind of recognition for my work."_

For the longest time, Yukari hadn't had any idea what the project _was;_ she'd been only vaguely aware of what her father was doing, at the time or for most of years since his death. Even after joining SEES, she'd only had the vaguest glimmer. Now, she was beginning to see what he must've been involved in, and it made her heart ache.

_He couldn't have known exactly what it was leading to,_ she reminded herself. _Kouetsu Kirijo covered his tracks so well, after all; Dad must've known the basics of the experiment, but he couldn't have known what the final result was supposed to be._

"_However, as proud as I may be of how work is going, I want you to know that _nothing_ is more important to me than you and your mother, Yukari. Everything I'm doing is to make things better for you both."_

Those weren't the words of a nihilist, like Mitsuru had described her grandfather. Even now, Yukari clung to that certainty.

"_Yukari… are you still bright eyed and hopeful? Are you remembering to enjoy life, even in the middle of the hectic high school life? No matter what happens in the next ten years, I hope you're happy… Well, I hope at least this letter puts a smile on your face. …Love, Dad."_

It did put a smile on her face, even now. Even through the tears reading his long-ago words still brought her. It put a smile on her face, and renewed the resolve in her heart, just like it always had. The one thing she clung to, even when everything seemed to be changing all around her.

"Dad started because he thought it would make Mom and me happier," Yukari whispered, folding up the letter. "I can't do any less, can I? However this might've started, I _know_ fighting the Shadows is the right thing to do, that it's continuing my Dad's work… I can't lose. For Dad's sake, I have to keep going." Her expression tightened, remembering the other person the letter was nominally addressed to. "I won't _ever_ give up. Not like Mom did."

No. She might not be the happy, hopeful person her father had hoped she would still be, but Yukari Takeba had never lost sight of herself. Even through all the pain and humiliation she'd suffered over the years, she'd hung on and continued walking forward. She sometimes lost her way, but she never stopped, never turned back.

She refused to be like her mother, who _had_ stopped, _had_ turned back. Who had tried to "move on" by acting like a high school girl with low standards, returning to immaturity instead of setting an example for her daughter.

_I will keep fighting,_ Yukari vowed. _Last night turned the world upside for me, but I still know for certain that the Shadows are dangerous. If I keep fighting them, I know I'll be on the right path, and if I can help bring all of this to an end, I'll finally overcome the past entirely._

_I'll be that girl again, Dad. Just… give me a little time, okay?_

* * *

Dark Hour

* * *

Minato hadn't seen the others all day, except very briefly when he'd gotten up in the morning. His schedule for the day somehow hadn't matched up with any of them, which was admittedly just as well, probably. Last night's revelations, he thought, were bound to leave all of them with too much to think about, even the ones who'd already known about it.

In the end, the truth coming out would either break the team, or bring them all closer together than they'd ever been. At this point, Minato wasn't prepared to guess one way or the other, although he did think it might finally have gotten Junpei really _thinking_ about it all.

_Everywhere I go, things are more complicated than they seem,_ he mused, leaning back in his desk chair in the eerie yellow moonlight. _Isn't that right, Saya? Tsu-chan?_

Three photos featured prominently on his desk. One of his dear sister, face partly obscured by her favored hat. Beside it, a girl with long black hair, red eyes, and face framed by glasses that still haunted his dreams even now; she smiled out of the picture at him, showing none of the deadly serious side he knew she had. At the end of the row, a girl with bright green hair and yellow eyes, her broad grin exposing her fang-like canines as she laughed at the camera.

The three girls who had defined his life up to this point, two of whom had shown him just how much more there was to the world than most people thought.

Mentally, Minato added a fourth picture, of a redhead he was still having trouble getting out of his mind at very awkward moments. If anyone in SEES fit in the company on his desk, he thought it was her, for more reasons than he was comfortable with.

"It's good to see you again, Kyousuke."

Minato didn't even twitch, hearing that odd voice behind him. "Evening, Pharos," he said smoothly, turning in his chair. "Figured I'd be seeing you soon."

The strange boy that had so recently named himself as "Pharos" smiled at him. "I suppose I am getting a little predictable, at that. But it's a good thing, isn't it? I don't want to surprise you too much, after all." Pharos peered thoughtfully out of the window, into moonlit night. "Hm… how long has it been since we first met, anyway?"

"About three months, give or take," Minato said after a moment's thought. "The night I arrived at the dorm, back in April."

"Ah, yes, of course… Time certainly flows quickly, doesn't it?" The boy nodded. "So, how's life treating you, as a Persona user?"

"Pretty well. It's even crazier than things were at North High, but it really does feel like I'm making a difference." Minato leaned back in his chair. "Although Tanabata made things… a bit complicated, let's say."

Pharos tilted his head curiously. "In a good way, or a bad way?"

_Now, isn't _that_ a question?_ "I don't know yet," the swordsman admitted. "We're all still working it out for ourselves. But if it goes well, I think we'll all be the stronger for it."

The boy smiled. "That's good, then, isn't it? Perhaps you'll even find what it is you've been looking for all this time." Before Minato could process that statement, Pharos' expression sobered. "I thought you should know, by the way, that I remembered something else about the end."

Minato tensed. As friendly as Pharos was, as pleasant as he was to talk to despite the eeriness of the circumstances, the relaxed atmosphere vanished in an instant at the reminder of the strange boy's favorite subject matter.

He'd read various texts about "ends". The Book of Revelation, Norse Ragnarok, even the supposed Mayan apocalypse some claimed was slated for only a little over three years hence. Not one of them that he could think of was reassuring.

"Can I ask what?" Minato said warily.

"You might find this useful," Pharos said earnestly. "I remembered that it all goes back to one event, from many years ago… Actually, about ten years ago, I believe."

Minato's blood ran cold. _Ten years ago…? No. That _can't_ be a coincidence. But that would mean, what we're doing, it's even more important than I-_

"Say," Pharos continued, frowning thoughtfully, "didn't your parents pass away about that time, too?"

_Fire. Squealing brakes. Impact. Gunfire. Screams. Blackness-_

Minato tore himself out of the half-recollection that was all that remained in his memories of that day, and stared at his otherworldly friend, face pale. "You…" he whispered. "You're not suggesting…?"

"It's just a thought," Pharos told him, fading away and reappearing almost instantly by the bed. "But it's something you might think about. Talk with 'yourself' about. Persona… Opposing mirrors of hope and despair, that's what Persona is. …What I mean is, a Persona user can never hide from his own true self."

"_And this above all… To thine own self be true." Those words, she was the first one who said them to me…_

Pharos looked him in the eye, somber. "You will find the truth within yourself sooner or later, Kyousuke," he said solemnly. "But don't worry. Regardless of what you find there, I'll be with you. Because we're friends, right?"

He faded again, this time disappearing for the evening entirely, before Minato could formulate a response.

"_Ne, Kyousuke… If you saw a new side of me, something different from what you know, what would you think of me?"_

"_I'd still be there for you, Saya. You don't have to ask me that."_

"_Even if it was something terrible? Something… inhuman?"_

"_Saya is Saya. No matter what, I would stand by you. I'd… still love you. That's what it means to love someone, isn't it? To accept all of them?"_

_A giggle. "Kyousuke-kun, you really are one of a kind, aren't you? …Thank you…"_

* * *

Monday, July 13th, 2009, Evening

* * *

Coincidences can be amazing, leading to meetings between people who by rights should never encounter each other in their everyday lives. Coincidence can save lives, and just as easily take them, when one of the random factors beyond human comprehension tips just slightly in one direction or the other.

Coincidences can also be just plain uncomfortable. Such as when all members of a team which had not gathered in the same spot in days, whose most recent group actions had ranged from uncomfortable to venomous, managed to accidentally have business in the dorm dining area, all at the same time. Junpei, whose resentment had set off one of the firestorms; Mitsuru, who was one of the key players in another, and the center of yet a third. Akihiko, who stood by her side through it all. Yukari, who had precipitated the latest clash; Fuuka, whose research had been used to set it all off.

Minato, who had the dubious honor of being the target of Junpei's resentment, the other party in Mitsuru's humiliation, _and_ her partisan in Yukari's interrogation.

All of them just happened to end up in the dining area at the same time, and the resulting silence was a very awkward one. Fuuka felt it the most strongly, through Lucia; to her, the oppressive atmosphere was a physical pressure, and so she cast about for a safe topic to break the silence. Exams were coming up, which by themselves were probably a dangerous subject around Junpei, but…

_Ah, of course!_

"S-so," she began hesitantly. "Summer break is coming up, isn't it? Does anyone have any plans for it?"

Her choice was apparently a winner. Tension began flowing away, slowly but noticeably, right away. "I haven't decided yet," Minato said thoughtfully, sliding into a chair at the dinner table. "An old friend wants to meet up with me, but I haven't figured out where to go yet."

"This from the guy who's spent half his life bouncing around like a tennis ball?" Junpei grinned, dropping ungracefully into a seat himself. "Ahh, you probably just wanna crawl into a book or something… But me? I wish I could go to the beach! Hot sand, cool breeze, the water…" His grin widened. "Babes in bikinis…"

Minato rolled his eyes. "You _would_ say that, wouldn't you." To Fuuka's relief, though, he seemed more amused than furious this time, and Junpei took it in good fun.

"And _you_ need to get out more, Minato. Seriously," the Man in the Hat said, shaking his head, "whatever problems you may have with bein' a chick magnet, even you gotta admit having a girlfriend wouldn't be so bad!" He stopped suddenly, eyes widening as he realized the potential minefield the suggestion represented. "Uh, not that I mean-"

"Relax," the swordsman told hm, rolling his eyes again. "Contrary to popular belief, my history is _not_ right out of a Shakespearean tragedy, Junpei. I just might surprise you someday."

He missed the way Mitsuru looked at him with sudden, intense curiosity; Fuuka did not.

"Zat so? I'll believe _that_ when I see it!" Junpei laughed. "But man, it sure would be nice to get some sun, dontcha think? Someplace in the south, where they know how to have _summer!"_ His grin faltered. "Oh, yeah… but we got exams first, don't we." Junpei's expression suggested someone had just run over his dog. "Man, I hoped to live to see summer, too…"

"Oh, come on, Junpei-kun," Fuuka said, smiling at him. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You haven't failed anything yet, have you?"

"That ain't very reassuring, Fuuka-chan. Not in _this_ gang of overachievers!"

Junpei's expression remained hangdog, but Fuuka was intensely relieved that he was joking about things like grades again. Something had changed since his fight with Minato at Shirakawa Boulevard, and while she could tell that his resentment wasn't quite as gone as he was pretending, he _was_ making an effort.

_Maybe things can still go back to normal,_ she thought hopefully. _I miss how things were when I first got here._

"I know what you mean," she said aloud. "I'd like to go someplace with a beautiful beach… Like Okinawa, maybe."

To Fuuka's surprise, and carefully hidden amusement, Minato gave a theatrical shudder at that. "Okinawa? Really nice place, great scenery and everything. But man, the last time I went there on vacation, it turned into a ghost story."

Yukari sighed. "Minato, I'd have thought that by now you'd know _some_ of us don't like hearing spooky stories. Or were you on the receiving end back then, and you've been getting revenge by proxy on _us_ ever since?"

"Wasn't a spooky story," he told her, shivering. "Spooky _real._ I may tell a lot of tall tales, Yukari, but _that_ one… Well. Actually, the spooky part wasn't the worst… Ah, never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Are you blushing?" Junpei demanded, leaning forward. "Damn, man, what could make _you_-"

"Don't ask, because I'm not telling," Minato said firmly. "A couple of the others, I might trust with that. But you? _Hell,_ no. I am _not_ giving you ammunition, Junpei. I'm just going to say that Okinawa is not my favorite place, and leaving it at that."

The tension was definitely gone now. Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged a notably relieved look, and Fuuka felt herself relax more than she had since the Tanabata Operation. _This_ was the kind of atmosphere she'd been so glad to find, when she left home to live in the dorm.

_Summer break might be just what we all need,_ she mused. _Get a break from all the studying and fighting, and maybe we'll be even better off._

"Well," another voice interjected unexpectedly, "I admit it's not Okinawa -which, I take it, you're just as happy with, Minato-kun- but… how does Yakushima sound, guys?"

They turned as a team to see Ikutsuki walking in, wearing both his usual tan suit and his usual bright smile. As with her fellow SEES members, Fuuka knew that smile wasn't always completely genuine, but right now the Chairman really did seem to be in a good mood.

"Mister Chairman," Mitsuru said in surprise, straightening from her lean against one wall. "I didn't expect to see you today."

"Oh, I was just in the neighborhood," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "I thought you all might appreciate having my schedule for the next week… but along the way, I had another idea. I'm glad to hear you all talking about summer break, because I've got a great suggestion for you. Mitsuru, your father will be taking some time off himself during your break, and he'll be at the family home in Yakushima."

She blinked. "He will? Father hasn't taken much time off in years…"

"Which is probably why he'll be there," Ikutsuki pointed out. "Even Kirijo-san needs a vacation every now and then. The timing is good, isn't it? You've got time off right after exams, so why don't you drop in on him?"

Fuuka was interested to note the reactions of her teammates. Mitsuru seemed conflicted, as if she liked the idea but wasn't sure if it was really okay. Akihiko… he felt fairly neutral, which didn't surprise her; beaches didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd care about much one way or the other. Yukari's sense was of cautious excitement; Minato, interest tempered by an odd, almost comical sense of foreboding.

Herself? She liked the idea quite a bit. She'd never been to the island of Yakushima before, and it sounded like it was just what the psychologist ordered. _Which,_ she thought wryly, _doesn't quite cover Junpei-kun's feelings, does it?_

If Junpei's grin got any wider, Fuuka feared his face would fall off. "Are you for real, man? We're going on a _trip?!_ Oh, _yeah!_ Beach babes, here I-!"

With changing expression, Minato reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. Junpei yelped and shot him an aggrieved look, but his enthusiasm didn't really seem dampened. If anything, he'd expected the blow.

Yukari huffed in annoyance. "Men," she muttered.

"Hey, don't lump all of us in with the pervert," Minato protested.

Ikutsuki chuckled at all the byplay. "Ah, youth… So, Mitsuru? What do you think of the idea?"

"W-well," Mitsuru began, biting her lip. "It does sound like a good idea, but I don't want to impose on my father. He's always so busy, I don't want to ruin his first real vacation in years…"

"Don't be silly," the Chairman chided her. "No father could possibly think of his own daughter dropping in as an imposition. You don't get to see him enough as it is, don't you think?" He looked over the group as a whole. "Besides, all of you have been doing an amazing job. You deserve a really good vacation. Some time away from Port Island, and Shadows, and everything else. And it's not like we don't know exactly when the next operation will be, is it? There's plenty of time before the next full moon."

Mitsuru bit her lip again, and Fuuka could sense her inner conflict. It wasn't hard to predict the final outcome, though, once she'd been reassured about her father; clearly, she, too, thought they all needed a break, and Fuuka could feel her own, hidden yearning just to see her father.

"All right," she said at last, breaking out in a slow smile. "I guess we do all need a break, don't we? Let's do it."

"_Yes!"_ Junpei shouted to the heavens. "I can't _wait!_ Yahoo!"

"It could be interesting," Akihiko allowed, smiling. "I can think of a few ways a beach could do for my training…"

Typical of the boxer to think of physical conditioning when everyone else was looking forward to just some time to chill and forget about back-breaking labor and brain-bending studying. For herself… "I'll need to buy a new swimsuit," Fuuka mused. "I haven't gone to the beach in so long."

Junpei flashed her a megawatt grin. "Oh, don't worry, Fuuka, I've got a spare you could- Youch!"

Minato and Yukari had stomped on his feet simultaneously, leaving him quite unable to stand. It was a measure of just how much the mood had changed that he only looked exasperated, not furious. Well, also agonized, but that was probably unavoidable.

Minato stood now himself, wearing an expression that mixed anticipation with dread, the latter, again, coming across as somehow comical. "I've got a phone call to make," he announced, turning toward the stairs. "Wish me luck."

"Is it really that bad, Minato-kun?" Fuuka asked curiously.

"Depends on how perverse her sense of humor is this week."

* * *

Late Night

* * *

When the minor celebration had broken up, Mitsuru made her way toward the stairs herself, feeling a bit subdued. She was looking forward to some time at the beach herself, somewhat to her own surprise; and yet… She couldn't help but think of the implications of her father being at Yakushima at the same time SEES was.

Not given the conversation two nights prior. That had brought everything right back to the surface. Speaking of…

As Mitsuru reached the foot of the stairs, Yukari caught up with her. "Um, Senpai?" she said tentatively. "About the other night… I'm sorry. I think I got a little carried away, so…"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No, Takeba. You were right. I should've told you everything, right from the start. You deserved to know what you were fighting, and why." She pursed her lips. "Which is why… it's probably just as well that we're going to Yakushima."

Yukari tilted her head. "Senpai?"

"The Chairman said everyone involved in the experiment was killed," Mitsuru reminded her. "But that's not strictly true. There was one witness who survived, albeit badly injured. Just one."

"And that witness is at Yakushima?" the archer hazarded.

"Yes," Mitsuru confirmed quietly. "My father."

* * *

_This has the potential to be exciting in all the wrong ways,_ Minato thought, flopping down on his bed. _I hadn't quite expected the whole team to go on vacation together. It's good that we're all getting along again, and it's a relief that Junpei seems to have calmed down, but… Wow. I had _not_ planned on this when I agreed to meet up over the break._

No use delaying the inevitable. Even if he waited until the last possible moment, she'd _still_ have time to make it, even if she had to hire a helicopter. _Or a helicopter carrier. Her family can probably afford it._

Sighing, Minato pulled out his cell phone and hit one of the speed dial options. As expected, it didn't take long for the other party to pick up, and a familiar blast of cheer came through right after. _"Heya, Minato-kun! I was wondering when you'd call!"_

"Hello yourself, Tsu-chan." He winced at the volume, and made a mental note to turn down his speakers before his next call to her. "My summer plans have been settled. The whole club is taking a trip to Yakushima right after exams."

"_Yakushima? Awesome, nyoro!"_ Minato could easily picture Tsuruya's grin. _"Alrighty, Silver-kun, I'll make my own arrangements right away. Ha ha! A few days at the beach sound like fun. Just like old times, eh?"_

"As long as it's not too much like old times, Fang-tan." He rolled his eyes. "Like I said, the whole club will be there, so please try not to embarrass me _too_ badly, okay?"

"_Well, that's partly up to them, isn't it? Not my fault if they misunderstand a reunion between old 'friends'!"_ Another burst of Tsuruya's trademark laughter. _"And hey, _you_ were the one who brought up the ship in a bottle, Silver-kun!"_

"Circumstances brought up the ship in a bottle, _Fang-tan,"_ he replied, grimacing at the memory. "Believe me, I'd just as soon forget it."

"_Aww…"_ Minato could hear the mock-pout over the airwaves. _"But it was so fun! You can't tell _me_ you didn't enjoy how it ended, because I _know_ you did!"_

Unfortunately, he couldn't quite refute that one. Not without being both dishonest and insulting. He would never, ever admit where Junpei "The Pervert" Iori could hear it, but he certainly couldn't deny it to Tsuruya herself. Even if the images the thought evoked meshed entirely too well with what happened on Tanabata, in ways he would _never_ dare remark on where his Senpai could hear.

"All right, so it ended… pleasantly," Minato said reluctantly. "It still _started_ awkward as hell, and my current club does _not_ need to hear the details of beginning _or_ ending, got it?"

"_Oh, if you insist…"_

"I do," he said firmly. "And these days, I might just be able to enforce it. You're not the only one who can set things on fire now, Tsu-chan."

There was a long silence on the other end; and an unnerving one. Minato had very, very rarely seen Tsuruya in a remotely serious mood. When the laughter stopped, smart people sat back and paid very close attention.

"_Is that so?"_ she said at length.

Nope. No laughter this time. "It's not quite what you do," Minato told her, turning to look out his window at the night sky. "…Does the word 'Persona' mean anything to you?"

"…_A little,"_ Tsuruya admitted. _"Sounds like we gots to talk about things when we see each other, Silver-kun."_ A pause, and then her voice turned cheery again. _"Anyways! Right after exams, ne? Yakushima, here I come! And I've even got a new swimsuit I can't _wait_ to show you!"_

_Oh, that _so_ doesn't bode well._

_**Yes, it does, Master,**_ Pixie said excitedly. _**This should be **_**fun!**

For once, Minato didn't even bother to chastise the lecherous Persona, being far more concerned with other lechers he could name. "I'm… looking forward to it, Fang-tan," he said uneasily. "See you next week?"

"_You bet! Catch ya later, Minato-kun!"_

The connection ended with a click, and Minato fell back against his pillow. "I'm so doomed," he whispered. "No. Scratch that. _Junpei_ is doomed, because I'm going to have to murder him next week. Whatever Tsu-chan is planning, I will have to murder Junpei for it."

_**Feh! And that is a **_**bad**_** thing, Master?**_

"Be nice, Valkyrie." He sighed. "I might be able to find another option. Depends on how quick I can make an appointment with the right doctors."

_**Doctors, Master?**_

"To perform brain surgery and remove certain glands," Minato explained. "Junpei's, that is. A little surgery in the right places, and Tsu-chan's idea of swimwear might _not_ make him self-destruct."

_**I **_**still**_** say that wouldn't be a bad thing…**_

* * *

Even for the studious, the trials and tribulations that are exams can be the stuff of nightmares. Free time evaporates, time itself assumes properties normally only found at large fractions of lightspeed; Einstein laughs from beyond the grave at those poor students who discover how truly "relative" time can be.

Thoughts of freedom vanish, replaced by endless equations, quotations of history, and references to unfathomably boring "classic" literature. In the end, one cannot even dream of release any longer, only of quizzes and horrid creatures out of textbooks.

At the height of time of horror, Minato's sleep was tormented by contact-lens-wearing, spell-casting samurai, who fired bullets from their hair. Even he, as diligent a student as he was, had succumbed to the sheer nonsense inherent in some of the exam questions, and sanity was nearly lost.

In the end, however, time moves on…

* * *

Saturday, July 18th, 2009, After School

* * *

The final bell rang. The teacher departed, leaving only students. The five-day ordeal that was "exam time" was over for a few more months.

"Awright!" Junpei shouted jubilantly, attracting looks from almost everyone else in the classroom-especially when he leapt half a meter in the air in excitement. "Yes, yes, it is _finally_ over! Damn, but I'd started to forget what _sunlight_ was like!"

Minato shook his head in resigned exasperation, putting away his books in a far more sedate fashion. Not that he disagreed with the sentiment, far from it, but Junpei's enthusiasm was tiring just to watch. _How the heck does he have that kind of energy after five straight days of exams? _I'm_ dead on my feet._

Over at her own desk, Yukari stretched, audible popping coming from her joints. "Could you try _not_ acting like a little kid sometimes, Junpei?" she said dryly, coming to her feet. "Did you actually do _that_ well on your exams?"

_I'd be surprised, personally. I know he did study _some_ this time, but what I heard through the wall wasn't very encouraging…_

Junpei grinned. "Actually, yeah, I think I did! I totally _aced_ P.E., y'know!"

Yukari rolled her eyes. "…Yeah. I guess that _was_ a stupid question, wasn't it?" She turned to the saner student. "What about you, Minato? You do all right?"

"I think I probably passed P.E.," Minato said soberly, working the kinks out of his shoulders. "Kaz gave me a run for my money, mind, but I still think I did okay."

"…Right. If you say so."

"Oh, c'mon," Junpei scoffed, picking up his bag. "What the hell're you guys doing worrying about exams _now,_ anyway? It's over and done with! A real man doesn't worry about the past, he looks ahead to what's coming next."

_Given what your definition of a "real man" is, Junpei, forgive me if I take that with a grain of salt._

_**Nay. Make that a truckload, Master.**_

Well, on balance Minato wasn't going to argue the point, but he had to admit he simply saw no need to worry about the exam results. Whether he did as well as he had the last time or not, he was entirely confident that he'd passed. Yukari, he was reasonably sure, had as well. Junpei… well, he figured Junpei at least wasn't likely to be held back a year.

"What, no comeback? I'm disappointed, Minato!" Junpei flashed another megawatt-grin. "Ah, but who cares? It's about to be summer! We're going to _Yakushima!_ What do we care about anything else right now?"

"I can think of a few things," Yukari told him, shaking her head. "But yeah, I have to say I'm looking forward to that, too." She turned back to Minato. "What about you, Minato? Are you all packed for the trip?"

"Just about," he replied. "I just need to finish getting my gear squared away, really."

"Your gear?" Junpei laughed, figuring out what his nominal leader meant. "Oh, c'mon, Minato, you're seriously bringing all that stuff to a beach vacation?"

"Yes."

"Why am I not surprised?" Yukari chuckled, and started for the door. "Well, I should probably finish getting ready, too… Hey, I don't have practice today, so you wanna go out for a bite to eat or something?"

Before Minato could respond, Junpei's eyes lit up. "Oh, awesome! Where're we goin?" He grinned slyly. "Oh, hey, if you need to buy a new swimsuit while we're out, I'd be _happy_ to help ya pick it."

"Do I _look_ insane?" Yukari demanded. "Never mind, don't answer that. Look, I need to grab some stuff from my locker before we go… Oh, how about I stop by 2-E on my way out? I'll ask Fuuka if she wants to go with us."

"Good idea." Minato still didn't know their newest teammate as well as he might, but he wouldn't dream of denying that she'd swiftly become an integral part of the group. She'd saved their lives several times now, and she was proving to be fiendishly effective at information gathering.

_She'd make one hell of a good detective herself,_ he mused, as Yukari left the classroom. _Maybe not so good with fieldwork, but she'd been quite the asset on the computer side of things. I should find out if she's interested; I've certainly got the contacts to get her a good start._

"…Hey, Minato?"

Minato looked over at Junpei, mildly surprised. "Hm?"

"Look, I…" Junpei hesitated, looking away. "Can we talk? Privately?"

"…Yeah, sure." _I wonder what's up?_

_**With this barbarian? 'Twould not be wise to expect too much, Master. Not after his behavior in recent weeks, particularly.**_

_**Can't really disagree with the Norse lady on this one, Master. Remember how you almost had to put him through a wall just a couple weeks ago.**_

…_**Perhaps, perhaps not,**_ Pyro Jack said slowly. _**Something feels different, somehow… Not that I really want to admit it.**_

_Let's find out._

* * *

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be able to get up here," Junpei remarked, when they'd gotten to the top of the school. "Like, wasn't there a _lock_ on that door? …How'd you open it? I thought you said you didn't know how to pick locks, Minato."

"I don't," Minato confirmed, wandering over to the railing, hands shoved in his pockets. "I stole the key from the Faculty Office and copied it weeks ago."

"…I don't really think you should tell Mitsuru-senpai about that." Junpei laughed. "What the hell was your last club like, anyway? Was Hanzo Hattori your president or something? Or maybe Lupin III?"

_More like Mata Hari crossed with James Bond and a wizard,_ Minato thought, remembering some of the crazier stunts he'd been roped into with the North High Irregulars. The Haunted Trainyard, the Ship in a Bottle, the Case of the Missing Ink…

_Actually, I probably _should_ have learned lock picking at some point, but that was Ginrou's job back then. I was the "problem solver" and the only one who could even hope to reign in Tsu-chan…_

"It was interesting," he said at last, with deliberate understatement. "Not the collection of misfits we've got in SEES, and not as wild as That Girl's 'Brigade', but we had our share of weirdness in both members and activities."

"Heh. I bet. I should probably take offense to the 'misfits' line, but…" Junpei scratched the back of his head, chuckling uncomfortably. "I guess I really can't talk about that, can I? I mean… I've been kind of a jerk lately, haven't I?"

Minato watched him steadily, not comfortable now with confirming the statement, but also quite unwilling to lie about it. As much as Junpei had been shaping up the last few days, the fact was that Minato had meant every word he'd said at the end of the Tanabata Operation. "Jerk" didn't quite say it, honestly.

"…That bad, huh? Guess I earned that." The Man in the Hat sighed. "Look, Minato, I… I'm not gonna say I don't think I had reason for the way I was acting, but I admit I was over the line. _Way_ over the line, actually. 'Specially with some of things I said to you the other night. You, uh… You've got a reason you don't like talking about chicks, right?"

"You could say that," Minato said evenly. "And why I don't think 'heroism' is an idea you should treat lightly."

"Figured as much. And I'm not gonna pry," Junpei assured him. "You wanna talk about it, I'll listen, but I know all about personal issues." He coughed. "So, uh… I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Minato. For everything."

Minato spent a long moment just examining Junpei's face. He didn't have the uncanny ability to read people's emotions that he'd seen from some -Fuuka, in particular, seemed more sensitive than she let on- but he couldn't call himself a member of his family without being able to do it the old fashioned way.

Generally, he was pretty good at telling when someone was lying. In this case, he wasn't getting that kind of vibe from Junpei; just chagrin, and what seemed to him to be genuine remorse. He was pretty sure his teammate was still uncomfortable with the gap between their capabilities, but that was to be expected.

_**I think he means it,**_ Pyro Jack noted, with some surprise. _**Interesting. I guess even he **_**can**_** learn, with time and… incentive.**_

_**Like almost getting strangled to death?**_ Pixie snarked.

"In that case," Minato said at length, "I should probably apologize for choking you. I overreacted a bit."

"I'll say!" Junpei managed a nervous chuckle. "But… all's well that ends well, right? So… we cool, then?"

Nodding slowly, the blue-haired swordsman stuck out his hand, and the goateed one shook it.

"Right, right… Blank slate, then," Junpei said, tension visibly leaving him. "…Oh, man! We'd better get down to the lobby before Yuka-tan wonders where we're at!"

Minato winced at the thought. Yukari, thinking they'd gone and goofed off or something… Not a nice thought. He'd avoided getting the foot-stomping that Junpei frequently suffered so far, and he'd like to keep it that way.

"Right. Let's go."

As they made their way back down into the school -carefully locking the roof door behind them, Junpei glanced sidelong at his leader. "So… Minato?"

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow, meet me on the dorm roof, will ya? Something I want to find out for sure." A nervous chuckle. "Prolly a foregone conclusion, but… I gotta know."

_?_

* * *

"All _right!_ Freedom, guys, _freedom!_ I won't have to see those doors again for _weeks!"_ Junpei laughed delightedly. Then, suddenly, paused. "Uh… but what do I do with myself now?"

_Junpei. Seriously. You don't study when you _are_ in school. Why don't you do what you do the rest of the time? …Whatever that actually is. Hang out with Kenji at Hagakure, or something. …Well, maybe not Kenji, given how _he's_ been, lately, but still…_

"It's summer, and we're heading for Yakushima soon, Junpei," Yukari reminded him, as they left Gekkokan's doors behind them. "I don't think boredom is something you're going to be worrying about much."

"Right," Fuuka agreed, smiling. "If nothing else, I still need to finish packing."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Coming from the direction of the gym, Akihiko walked over to join them with a cheery wave. "I haven't been on a trip in quite a while myself… As for right now, though, Ikutsuki-san called me. Said he was going to meet us at the gates."

Yukari's eyebrows went up. "The Chairman? He doesn't usually turn up like that. Any idea what he wants?"

The boxer shrugged. "Said something about a new candidate, if you can believe it."

_A new candidate?_ Minato's mental antennae twitched. _Weird. I'd have expected to hear about that ahead of time. …Although I guess Fuuka was kind of a special case. Still… I wonder who it is? Someone else from our school?_

"So we might have someone else joining the team?" Yukari said thoughtfully. "Well… I guess we _could_ still use the help…"

"Maybe so." Akihiko's face was contemplative. "I think we've been doing fine lately, myself, but… I suppose you're right. I wouldn't put too much stock in it yet, though. We _have_ had a couple of duds in the past."

_You have? Huh. I guess it makes sense, but I'm surprised I haven't heard about it before. Well, I suppose that really _isn't_ relevant to what we're doing, and it's not so much "hidden" as not following up on the implication of calling it "potential" to begin with._

Minato was still mulling that over when another voice interrupted. "Hey, Fuuka!"

Natsuki Moriyama. The girl running over to greet Fuuka was one Minato hadn't seen in weeks, not since the operation that had nearly gotten her killed. He'd heard stories, though, both from Fuuka and some other students, and he was impressed by her complete turnover in attitude. It still seemed a little bit _weird,_ but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

_It means Fuuka, at least, has a friend outside SEES and the Dark Hour madness. Good for her._

"Natsuki-chan!" Fuuka called back, smiling warmly. "Do you need something?"

The tanned girl rolled her eyes. "There's a 'mandatory study session' today. You _know_ how boring those are, so I was wondering if you could stay after school with me? Oh." Natsuki looked around at the gathered SEES members, and her face fell. "Right, you're going 'home' home today, aren't you? Sorry to bother…"

"Wait!" Fuuka interrupted. She shot her teammates an apologetic look, and turned another smile on Natsuki. "Of course I will, Natsuki-chan." Taking Natsuki by the arm and heading back toward the school, she said over her shoulder, "Sorry, guys! I'll see you all back at the dorm later."

"Wow," Junpei commented, when they'd disappeared. "Can you believe how much she's changed?"

"Which one?" Minato replied, his own eyebrows edging upward.

"Both," Yukari said, shaking her head. "Fuuka's a lot more confident than she used to be, and Natsuki's certainly come a long way from being a bully. I'm really surprised by how quick both of them have changed."

_It _is_ pretty impressive,_ Minato mused. _But sometimes, all it takes is the right person, with the right words. Isn't that right, Tsu-chan? Back when I first started at North High, back when you first found me, I was…_

Bleak. That was what he most associated with those days. Like the color had been leached out of the world, everything had seemed gray, like a silent film. A year he'd spent that way, until Tsu-chan had come along and shown him a world with color again…

"Ah, I see Fuuka and Moriyama are getting along splendidly. That's wonderful! The beauty of friendship, the vibrancy of youth… Adolescence is such a wonderful thing, wouldn't you all agree?"

Minato turned to see a familiar tan suit, long hair, glasses, and perpetual smile approach. About the only thing missing from Shuji Ikutsuki's appearance was the uncanny way light occasionally reflected off his eyes and made him look dramatic and spooky. _A look rather at odds with his usual goofiness. Case in point… what the heck did he just say?_

"Good afternoon, Mister Chairman," he said, nodding politely to SEES' nominal advisor. "Akihiko-senpai said you told him something about a new candidate…?"

"Ah, yes!" Ikutsuki nodded with a bright smile. "I did, didn't I? Well, it's… kind of complicated, which is why I wanted to talk to you all face to face. Since I had to come here anyway to pick someone up, I thought I'd deal with it all right now." He glanced back to the school gates. "Over here, Ken!"

When the young boy came into view, Minato heard Yukari greet him with some measure of evident surprise. He didn't really pay attention, though; not to her, and not to Junpei's questioning look. He was slightly more attentive to the way Akihiko seemed to stiffen, but in the main his focus on the boy himself.

Brown hair. Average height for someone of his evident age, which Minato estimated to be about eleven or twelve. A hooded sweatshirt combined somewhat oddly with a pair of shorts. Ordinary brown eyes. Nothing at all that anyone would find very remarkable; certainly nothing a guy with naturally blue hair had any right to consider "odd".

Except his expression. The boy looked about as you'd expect, friendly, innocent… yet to Minato, something seemed off. He couldn't put a name to it, couldn't begin to describe why he felt this way, but his cheerful, open look just felt _off._ It made his instinct tingle, and he couldn't even answer to himself what the problem was.

…_**Mature,**_ Angel murmured in the back of his mind. The first Persona he'd manifested since Tanabata, one which represented the Arcana of Justice in Minato's psyche, she was examining the boy as intently as he was. _**The boy is more mature than his years should suggest, Master. I do not know why, but the boy has the feeling of "loss" about him.**_

Minato became aware that Ikutsuki was explaining something to Akihiko. Or… reminding, perhaps. "Yes, I'm afraid Ken here doesn't travel during school breaks. His… circumstances, you see."

Yukari nodded soberly. "Yeah, I heard about that. His parents…"

"My mom," the boy -Ken?- corrected calmly. "I never knew my dad. It was just Mom and me, and then… she got in an accident and she… she died." He looked away. "It was two years ago now."

_Well, that explains _that._ I was only six when my parents died, and that was ten years ago. Being ten years old, and only having had two years to try and come to terms with having no family… Crud. I at least had Naoto and Grandfather._

_**Indeed, Master.**_ Angel sighed. _**This one bears watching over. I fear what might become of this poor child, left all alone.**_

_No arguments here._

Ikutsuki, for once, wasn't smiling. He had a genuinely somber look on his face. "Right now," he explained quietly, "a distant relative of his is paying for his expenses, but he lives at a boarding school here in Port Island. His relatives… would prefer not to take him in directly-" at this, an expression of distaste crossed his face "-so he'd otherwise be all alone at the elementary school dorm over the break. As I'm sure you all realize, that's not exactly healthy. So, for the time being, I've decided to move him to your dorm."

Minato had only thought Akihiko was concerned before. The way he tensed up now, the swordsman was afraid the boxer was going to stop breathing entirely. _Why,_ Minato couldn't imagine, but obviously the idea didn't sit well with Akihiko. Not one bit.

He wasn't the only one. Junpei didn't seem especially bothered, but Minato was genuinely wondering what Ikutsuki was thinking. Sure, the SEES dorm was probably the safest place in the entire city, but it was also the center of operations for fighting monsters from the abyss in the dark of night. The idea of exposing a kid to that kind of thing…

_Even I was fifteen before I saw the darkness. The idea of a twelve-year-old being anywhere _near_ what we do on a daily basis…! Is the Chairman out of his mind?_

"You can't be serious," Yukari blurted, looking as anxious as Minato felt. "I mean- To _our_ dorm, Mister Chairman? Are you sure that's safe?"

…_And Yukari reminds me again that discretion isn't her strong point. Yeah, sure, let's talk about how there's things we shouldn't talk about in front of the kid _right in front of the kid._ Yeah. Remember what happened with Junpei, just after I got here?_

To his surprise, Ken didn't seem at all puzzled, and Ikutsuki merely smiled. "Oh, I don't think it'll be a problem at all, Yukari. Don't worry, he, too, has the potential."

…_Oh, crud._

Akihiko's expression took on the aspect of one struck by lightning. "You mean," he whispered, "_he's_ the new candidate? Mister Chairman…"

Ikutsuki waved a placating hand. "Yes, he is. But don't get too concerned just yet, Akihiko. Ken _is_ still in elementary school. Right now, his 'potential' is just that; this is only a possibility for the future. But you see now, don't you, why I think he should be at your dorm over the summer?"

"Totally," Junpei said, nodding quickly. "Damn, that's nuts."

Minato, to his own regret, couldn't disagree. If Ken had the potential, it meant he, too, entered the Dark Hour. Nascent Persona abilities or not, that put him at risk, along with everyone around him. The SEES dorm would at least be away from potential bystanders, and Minato was reasonably sure of its safety even without actual Persona users on hand.

_But, dammit, just a _kid_ and he has to worry about the Dark Hour? That's a crazy way to have to grow up. …I wonder how Senpai is going to take this?_

He remembered Mitsuru's scars, and her allusion to "not having been given a choice", well. He was pretty sure she wouldn't like the idea of a child Persona user any more than he did. Possibly less, all things considered.

"Are you… Akihiko _Sanada?"_

Minato snapped out of his reverie, to see Ken peering intently at Akihiko. The boxer, in turn, glanced down, obviously uncomfortable. "Well… yeah, I am," he admitted uneasily.

Ken broke into a smile. "I'm Ken Amada!" he said brightly. "I've heard a lot about you… They say you haven't lost a boxing match yet!"

Akihiko shrugged awkwardly. "I guess… Well, it's… it's nice to meet you."

_Okay. The kid's maturity, I get; he's had to grow up fast. But what the hell is Akihiko-senpai's problem? The guy looks like he's seen a ghost. He didn't look that bad when the Emperor and Empress Shadows were tossing us all around like rag dolls. …Any ideas, guys?_

_**Hee-hooo!**_

…_Pixie. Imitating Jack Frost? …I suppose that tells me what you think of it, at least._

_**Fae twit.**_

_Got a better notion, Valkyrie?_

…_**Feh.**_

* * *

Sunday, July 20th, 2009, Daytime

* * *

Minato had found, in recent weeks, that the dorm roof was an excellent place to practice his craft, being a reasonably open space without much chance of being spotted by people who might look askance at a high school student practicing with real swords. He'd put it to that use most nights he wasn't going to Tartarus or studying for exams, ever since the Tanabata Operation forced him to take up Niten-Ryu again.

That also made it ideal for Junpei's request, as unexpected as it was.

"Man," Junpei groused lightly, shrugging his shoulder uncomfortably. "How do you get used to this stuff, Minato? Is it really worth it?"

He'd never worn the protective gear that went with kendo training before, and it showed in how obviously awkward he found it. Although in fairness, he was wearing Minato's spare set, so it didn't really fit him, either; even so, Minato suspected he wouldn't have liked it much even with a fitted set.

He adjusted his own mask, and reach for the bag of shinai that he'd brought up to the roof with them. "It's worth it, Junpei," he assured his teammate. Pulling out a shinai, he tossed it to Junpei, adding, "These may be wood, not steel, but it can still leave some nasty bruises if you're not careful."

"Well, okay," Junpei granted, catching the practice blade. "But still… this stuff feels heavier than that coat of yours!"

"Bulkier, maybe, but not heavier." Minato reached back into the bag, and withdrew a pair of shinai for himself. "Differing situations, Junpei. Kendo is good for teaching you the basics of real combat, but the rules are very different… especially for someone like me."

Ordinarily, that would've made this test fairly useless for the purposes Junpei had intended; the Man in the Hat was trying to make a point about their operations, or have the point made to him. Tournament rules would've rendered the exercise moot. Despite the gear, however, Minato had no intention of running this according to the "rules".

As shown by the way he was equipping himself with _two_ practice blades, something illegal in most tournaments, this was meant to be "anything goes". Just like real combat.

Junpei took one look at the twin-blade stance Minato was assuming, and shook his head. "Man, you're really going all-out, aren't ya? Try not to humiliate me _too_ badly, Minato."

"Nonsense," Minato declared, smiling behind his mask as he lifted his blades before him. "This is a handicap in your favor. After all, these shinai are both full-length, meant for use with both hands. Their reach and balance is different from my usual ninjato; I'll have to spend some of my concentration just compensating for that."

"Heh. You're unbelievable, y'know that?" Junpei chuckled, raising his own shinai up to shoulder-level, gently waving the tip in circles. "All right then, you think you're a hotshot? Let's find out!"

"Any time you're ready."

Minato had no intention of going on the attack. He was completely surrendering initiative to Junpei, something he never would've done in "real" combat-at least, real combat against someone he couldn't predict.

_Which is exactly the point of the exercise, when you get right down to it. I understand that, because I've fought more than just unthinking monsters. Time to see if Junpei knows the difference._

With a yell, Junpei charged forward, crossing the few meters between them at a brisk pace. His balance, at least, was good, and he _was_ fast; he even had power, as he brought his shinai down at Minato's padded shoulder. Were it to connect, the blow would almost certainly bruise even through the armor. Blocking it would've been difficult, too.

_Pity he telegraphs his moves._

Minato was probably more than strong enough, especially backed by his Personas, to block the attack, were he using a single shinai in a normal two-handed grip. With a shinai in either hand, neither one truly balanced for the style, he simply didn't have the leverage. So, rather than trying to block or even parry, he simply stepped to one side at the instant Junpei committed to the attack, letting the heavy blow go right past.

Junpei staggered forward a couple of steps, and almost slapped his shinai right into the roof before he could catch himself. In that time, Minato lightly tapped him on the shoulder with his right-hand blade, while dragging the tip of the left across his side.

"Point," Minato said dryly, while Junpei recovered to his "ready" stance. "Or do you think that counted as two?"

"You're fast," Junpei admitted, shaking his head. "How'd you do that, anyway?"

"Try again and find out."

He did, this time lowering his blade as he lunged, bringing it down to his side so he could swing it up in a right-to-left diagonal. This time, Minato did parry, his blades both from up from the lower left to catch Junpei's from below, actually adding to the attack's speed and power; combined with a very slight backstep on Minato's part, and the shinai went up and over, passing harmlessly centimeters away.

Somewhat to Minato's surprise, Junpei rode with the momentum, spinning around to add power before bringing his shinai down in a heavy overhand blow. Almost certainly a purely improvised move, and one Minato thought might actually have worked well under certain circumstances.

Not, to be sure, against a normal kendo practitioner, but it would've provided a significant challenge to an ordinary Niten-Ryu specialist. Alas for Junpei, Minato was not normal.

Minato responded by swinging both of his blades up, crossing them in front of his body, and catching Junpei's strike in the V-shape they formed. The force of it made his arms tense, and it actually pushed him back slightly, but the improvised guard held.

Junpei recognized this after a moment, and sprang back. "Hey," he complained, "that shouldn't have worked! I put everything I had into that; a normal guy couldn't have held a block like that!"

"No, but _I_ can," Minato said dryly. "The point isn't what normal people can do, Junpei. It's what _someone_ can do. And no offense, but most people wouldn't be using my style at all. Against 'normal' kendo, what you just did would've been pretty easy to block."

"Feh!"

Things continued in that vein for several minutes, with Junpei using powerful but largely improvised attacks, and Minato using a mix of speed, Persona-enhanced strength, the general unpredictability of his style, and Junpei's own lack of subtlety to control the flow of battle. On balance, as Minato had observed in previous battles against Shadows, Junpei seemed to regard a sword more as sharpened club than a precision instrument.

The goateed katana-wielder did _have_ power, Minato had to admit, after nearly having his own guard broken several times. Speed wasn't really his strong point, but he could put a lot of strength into his blows. The problem was that he seemed unconcerned about defense, and had no sense of subtlety at all; he could think on his feet, but he telegraphed every move he made.

Against Shadows, being "subtle" usually didn't matter. If he ever had to fight a human for real, though, it was going to give him problems, and the glaring holes in his defense were an issue in any kind of fight, even against "beasts".

_The same kind of thinking that made him rush ahead during the monorail operation. Beat the other guy before he beats you… There's some measure of practicality in the idea, but taking it to the excesses he does leaves him open against the ones he _isn't_ attacking, and sometimes blinds him to their presence entirely._

_Either way, he wouldn't last long in a real fight against an actual swordsman. Especially with the amount of energy he wastes with those heavy, wild attacks of his._

Junpei seemed to be starting to realize that last point. He was breathing hard, now, much harder than Minato. "Dude," he gasped out, "how d'you keep this up all the time? Doesn't Kendo practice take longer than this? What d'you do, drink enough caffeine to kill a horse?"

"By being more conservative, and decisive," Minato replied, rolling his eyes. "You're strong, but you're overdoing it."

"Yeah?" Junpei grunted. "Okay, then. How does a 'real' swordsman fight? C'mon, Minato, you've just been sitting back and taking it so far. Gimme your best shot!"

Minato shrugged. "You asked for it." Waiting a beat, as Junpei hefted his shinai back into "home run" position, the blue-haired swordsman set himself. Bringing both blades down and to his right, he moved his left foot forward one step, and pushed off.

The resulting rush was half-run, half low-leap. True to Junpei's stance, he actually attempted a motion like a baseball player trying to hit it out of the park, but Minato's low running stance slipped right beneath it. When his foot touched the ground, just past Junpei's attack, Minato turned on it, swinging both shinai up to catch Junpei in the small of the back.

Completely unbalanced by his own attack and the inertia imparted by the blow right above his backside, Junpei stumbled forward, collapsed to his knees, and fell flat on his face.

_**The knave is fortunate he's wearing a face mask.**_

"Game set, match?" Minato suggested. Straightening up, he lightly flipped his grip on both blades, set them point-first on the roof, and leaned on them.

For a few moments, the only sound from his erstwhile opponent was heavy breathing. Then, "You could've done that… right from the start, couldn't ya?" Junpei wheezed out a chuckle. "Why not?"

"Instant death doesn't teach anything," Minato pointed out.

"…Yeah. Guess you got a point." Lungs heaving, Junpei pushed himself back to his knees. "So tell me, 'Sensei'. What the hell am I doing wrong?"

"Short version?" Minato pondered a moment. "You're playing baseball, not practicing martial arts. You're thinking like sports, not combat. …Actually, get right down to it, your main problem is probably just lack of training. You've got speed, you've got power to burn, and I think you've got reflexes. You just haven't been taught how to put it together."

"Don't suppose you can give me some pointers?"

He shook his head. "I can tell you a few things, but I'm not really a teacher, Junpei, and my specialty I _don't_ think you could handle. Not any time soon, anyway." Minato shrugged. "I might be able to recommend a teacher, though."

Junpei pulled himself back to his feet, just so he could stagger over to the nearest railing and slump against it. "Yeah? …I'll have to think about that. That was kinda embarrassing." He took a few moments to just breathe, still trying to recover from the match. Then, slowly, he met Minato's eyes. "Remember what I said about _you_ being reckless? I still think you're kinda crazy for some of the stunts you've pulled, but remind me never to badmouth your sword again." He pulled off his mask, and managed a grin. "And remind me _never_ to get on your bad side again, man."

_Well, well. He really _has_ improved._

_**Even a barbarian can learn from enough pain, Master. …But,**_ Valkyrie conceded reluctantly, _**I suppose you are correct. Mayhap he has the makings of a decent comrade, after all. With a few years of remedial training, mind.**_

_Now, now. He's still rough around the edges, but let's give credit where credit is due._

"Awright, then," Junpei wheezed out, pushing himself fully upright at last. "I got a lot to think about, Minato… but that can wait, dontcha think?"

"Not much that can be done right now anyway," Minato agreed, turning to return his shinai to the carry bag. "Summer break is starting, and tomorrow we're on our way to Yakushima."

"Hell, yeah!" The other flashed a megawatt-grin. "Forget about swords, Shadows, and exams! Time for babes and tans, dude!"

"No, and no." Minato made a face. "Hell no to the first, and Bad Idea for the second."

"You're no fun at all… but I guess that's just like you." Junpei snorted. "But c'mon, are you really that worried about skin cancer, Minato?"

"No, I'm worried about scaring off the rest of the beachgoers." The swordsman tapped his left shoulder. "Not the only scar I've got, Junpei. You think it's a good idea for me to let people see that?"

"…Okay, ya got me there." Junpei was grinning again, but he did nod agreement on that point. "Won't help any of us if you scare off the girls 'cause you look like a Yakuza goon. …Fine, you get to wear a shirt, Minato. But you're still coming to the beach!"

"…Didn't think I could avoid that, no."

The two of them got to work packing up the kendo gear then, but Minato's attention wasn't really on it. He was, in fact, as concerned about the beach as he'd told Junpei, and for exactly that reason. He was even telling the truth about not being interesting "cruising for chicks", as Junpei would probably put it.

But the biggest reason he was worried about it?

_I don't think Senpai has forgotten what happened on Tanabata any more than I have. This is gonna be awkward as hell any way you slice it, whether the rest of the team knows it or not. So far, we've been able to work around it, mostly keep it "out of sight, out of mind"…_

_But the beach? Swimsuits? _Minato shuddered. _I don't know how Senpai is going to handle it, but I think we'd both just about die if I turned up shirtless._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

May just go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: I'm not really happy with this chapter. It's mostly a remixed rehash of canon, without much "original", and not really a heck of lot of even canon stuff that's really interesting. I didn't plan the chapter that way, and it originally _did_ go straight on to Yakushima.

Problem was, it went on to Yakushima for a full _extra chapter length._ I prefer my chapters to reach at least 12k, preferably 15k, but with Yakushima added on it was looking to hit _twenty-five thousand_ words.

So. Bad news is, you get this mostly fill-ish chapter for now, without the promised Yakushima content. The good news? I was most of the way through the Yakushima scenes before I became convinced I'd need to split the chapter, so you won't have to wait more than a few days for the next chapter. (Also, you can thank the split for the last scene of this chapter; I wanted it originally, but decided it would make the chapter too long; once that happened anyway, I needed just a little more to round out the "first half" and provide a suitable end point. Voila.)

Yeah. Probably not the greatest chapter, but it needed to be done, and you won't have to wait long for the "good" half. Hope it was at least mildly interesting. -Solid


	11. Chapter XI: It's a Kind of Magic

Monday, July 20th, 2009, Daytime

* * *

"Ya-hooo! There it is, guys! Yakushima off the left bow!"

_That's _port_ bow, Stupei. You're on a ship, you call it port. …Whatever._ A subtle movement, a quiet "click", and the soothing melody of _Voices_ went up a notch to block out the enthusiasm of the Man in the Hat.

A bright, clear sky above them, the ocean all around them. The ferry trip to Yakushima wasn't a long one, but Minato had to admit it was an enjoyable one; it had been too long since he'd last been on the water. Well, perhaps not long _enough,_ from one perspective, but he had no reason to expect anything like that on this trip.

They'd left in the early morning, accompanied by a comment from Ikutsuki about how the fare for the ferry hadn't been very fair -a comment which had almost prompted Minato to assassinate him on the spot- and now they were nearly to the popular vacation destination, ready for three days of sun, sand, and relaxation. Three days with no worry about Shadows or violent death.

_Three days of Junpei being Junpei,_ Minato thought uneasily, still faintly hearing his teammate chattering to the rest of the group; he himself was just inside the ferry's superstructure. _He's going to be insufferable on the beach._

For the moment, Yukari and Fuuka were paying the idiot little attention, and he thought Mitsuru and Akihiko were on a different part of the upper deck. That much was a relief. What wasn't, was that he'd gotten confirmation that morning that they'd be having a little more company as of the next day.

Minato hadn't told any of his compatriots that Tsuruya was coming. In all honesty, he was a little afraid to. He was reasonably sure Akihiko would be indifferent, and Fuuka probably friendly enough; Mitsuru, he wasn't quite sure about, and he had the distinct feeling that Yukari wouldn't appreciate his old senpai's mysteriousness.

_And then there's Junpei. Heaven help me if Junpei is around when Tsu-chan meets up with me._

"We're almost there, Minato," Yukari called, waving to him from near the bow. "You see it?"

Pausing his music, Minato finally emerged out into the sun, adjusting the collar of his t-shirt to let in the breeze. They were, indeed, slowing down and sidling up to the dock now. In just a couple of minutes, they'd be on shore and heading for the place Mitsuru had arranged for them to stay.

"It's a beautiful place," Fuuka commented, openly rubbernecking. "Have any of you ever been here before?"

"Not me," Minato admitted, as Yukari and Junpei also shook their heads. "My vacation spots have usually trended more toward mountains than the sea, with the exception of the Okinawa trip last year."

"Yakushima has its own charm," Mitsuru said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and once again almost making him jump out of his skin. "The Jomon cedar tree is particularly impressive, and of course there's the beach."

The expression on her face, Minato noticed, was shadowed. She seemed happy about the trip, but something about it clearly had her uneasy.

_Her father, probably. The Kirijo family clearly has some pretty major "issues"; her grandfather's actions, and everything that came after, have left their mark on how she views "family", from the look of it. I don't remember my parents very well, but I know I would never worry about "bothering" my grandfather by dropping in on him during a vacation._

_Old Man Kouetsu has a lot to answer for._

Any incipient dark mood was, fortunately, quickly broken. "The beach!" Junpei repeated, grinning. "Yeah, _that's_ gonna be the highlight of the trip! Beaches, and babes, and-"

While Minato took no small satisfaction in the stomp Yukari ended the statement with, he had to admit -if only in the privacy of his own mind- to being grateful to Junpei for once. This wasn't the time to be brooding about the past, it was time to actually relax for once, and have some fun.

_Even if some of that fun is plotting how to murder Junpei without leaving any forensic evidence. _Damn,_ but I hope he's busy somewhere else when Tsu-chan gets here. Or maybe I can arrange to meet her someplace that _isn't_ the beach?_

…_Right. This is Fang-tan we're talking about. Of _course_ she's going to want to meet on the beach._

_**Homicide it is, Master?**_

_Start plotting, guys, we have a Perfect Crime to plan._

* * *

Minato wasn't exactly what one would call "financially challenged". His family was, in fact, pretty darn well off, if not to the extent he suspected the Tsuruya family of being. Despite that, while his family's main home was not precisely small, he tended to associate "vacation" homes with small, intimate settings.

Apparently the Kirijo family didn't agree. The Yakushima vacation home that greeted the eyes of the SEES team was Western-styled, and _at least_ as large as the house Minato had grown up in between his various travels. If that was their idea of a small, intimate vacation house, he was kind of scared to think about how big their main home must be.

_You must need GPS,_ he thought, as Mitsuru led the way up the front steps. _A compass and a map, at the very least. …What is it with families like ours and the apparent need for mansions big enough for entire clans? Well, I suppose you could excuse it with the idea of it serving the Kirijo Group as a whole, but still._

"I realize it's a bit fancy," Mitsuru said, opening the doors, "but I think it'll do." She flashed a smile over her shoulder at the group. "Make yourselves at home, everyone."

"I'll be damned," Junpei whispered, visibly overwhelmed. "Is this place for real? It's like it's straight out of _Lifestyles of the Rich and Fabulous_!" He craned his neck around, taking in everything he could of the mansion's foyer.

As suggested by the outside view, the foyer was spacious, reminding Minato of a ballroom as much as an entrance. Elegant pillars supporting a second-floor walkway, a plush carpet down the middle leading up a stairway… Minato estimated that the foyer alone cost more than their entire dorm. _Without_ taking into account the chairs, other furnishings, and handful of paintings hung on the walls.

"I thin I actually _have_ seen this on TV before," Fuuka said in a hushed voice, looking a bit out of her depth as well.

"Could be," Yukari mused, just as the doors at the other end of the room opened. "The Kirijo Group isn't exactly low-profile, after all…"

From the newly-opened doors came a pair of women in classic maid attire, white frills and all. "Welcome back, Milady," one of them said, as they both bowed. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Sanae-san," Mitsuru replied with a smile, nodding to the woman. "It's been too long."

"It has, indeed, Milady." Sanae turned to those behind Mitsuru. "And these are your friends from school, yes? Welcome to the Kirijo retreat. Rooms have already been prepared for all of you."

Of his friends and comrades, Minato noticed, only Mitsuru seemed to really know how to react to the situation; even Akihiko, the ever-composed, looked uncertain, and the others… _Well. Can't blame them; but somebody's gotta say something. Fortunately, this is one thing I _did_ literally grow up with._

Feeling slightly ridiculous himself, given his casual attire, Minato bowed formally. "Thank you very much," he said, shifting to a more polite speech pattern than his usual. "Forgive us for the intrusion. We'll be in your care."

Sanae smiled, nodding. "Of course, Master Arisato."

He twitched at that, and glanced at Mitsuru. No luck there; she looked as surprised as he felt, and shrugged minutely when she noticed his gaze.

_They already know who I am, on sight? That's… odd._

As if nothing had happened, Sanae turned back to Mitsuru. "If you'll excuse us, Milady, we'll take your luggage up to your rooms now."

"…Yes, thank you, Sanae." Mitsuru paused. "By the way, I was told that my father would be…"

She trailed off, for at that moment another figure came through the doors behind the maids, who took the opportunity to retrieve the various bags and quietly depart. A tall man in a dark brown suit, with equally dark hair. A scar ran down the right side of his face, from his forehead down to his cheek, interrupted by a black patch covering that eye socket. In one hand, he held a smoking cigarette.

Silently, the man stopped before the group, and turned his one-eyed gaze on them. Mitsuru he gave only a passing glance, and Akihiko was similarly mostly ignored. Junpei received a brief, measuring look, before the inspecting eye moved on to Yukari. Her face brought a spark of… something… to his expression, and his face twitched slightly.

Then it was Minato's turn, and he felt for a second like the man was staring right into his soul. That gaze was one of recognition, one which measured every fiber of his being. This wasn't just someone evaluating a friend of a family member, this was someone who saw Minato as a fighter, as the field leader of SEES, who did not concern himself with Minato's academics or normal qualities as a high school student.

He had the strangest feeling that the man was not, in fact, looking at "Minato Arisato" at all, but rather the truth behind that mask. _He knows,_ the swordsman thought, feeling a chill run down his spine. _He knows who I am. He knows… Kyousuke…_

In the ensuing silence, Minato thought he could hear Junpei sweat, even though the Man in the Hat was no longer under direct scrutiny. Loathe as he was to use the cliché, he was sure a pin dropping would shatter everyone's eardrums. _Like a grenade pin,_ he thought, beginning to shiver himself.

Mitsuru finally broke the tension. "It's good to see you, Father," she said, confirming Minato's suspicion as to the man's identity. "It's been a while."

Takeharu Kirijo released the SEES members from his inspection at last, and looked back at her. Another long moment of silence, before he nodded to himself, and walked away.

The whole time he'd been there, he hadn't said a word. Of course, contrary to how it felt, Kirijo probably hadn't been there at all more than thirty seconds or so. Nonetheless, it was the longest thirty seconds Minato could recall in recent memory.

"…Damn," Junpei breathed, once Kirijo was safely out of earshot. "That was scary, man! I thought he was gonna make us walk the plank or something!"

"Don't be melodramatic, Junpei," Yukari scolded, rolling her eyes. Despite the scolding, though, she didn't sound very irritated; Minato figured she was as grateful as anyone for the final break in the tension.

"It's all right," Mitsuru assured them, conjuring up a smile that didn't look _too_ forced. "My father… Well, he's a bit quiet, but he's really very kind. At any rate, we'll be here for a few days, so you may as well start settling in."

"Settling in?" Junpei laughed, grinning. "Ah, c'mon, Senpai, that can wait! Let's head straight for the beach!"

_Of course,_ Minato thought, inwardly relieved. _Trust Junpei to get straight to the frivolous. …Sometimes, I envy you. Not that I'll ever admit it, mind._

"Right now?" Yukari gave Junpei a Look that really said more than words could convey. "You've got a one-track mind, don't you?" She paused. "Oh, fine. Just give me a minute to get changed, will you?"

Normal chatter resumed, and the group split up to find their respective rooms. Minato fell a bit behind the rest, though, thoughts more on the encounter with Takeharu Kirijo than the beach. It didn't go unnoticed, either; Akihiko hung back a little, dropping to match pace with him.

"You okay?" the boxer asked quietly. "I know Mitsuru's father can be a little scary, Minato, but he's really not that bad."

"I know," Minato replied, just as softly. "I could tell that much. But…"

"But?"

"I think he knows who I am. I'm not used to that."

* * *

Akihiko thought, very briefly, about pressing the matter. That was the first time he could recall Minato actually acknowledging that he wasn't quite who he claimed to be. It was starting to become something of an open secret within SEES, of course; Akihiko and Mitsuru had both long since come to the conclusion that "Minato Arisato" was an alias, and he was pretty sure Fuuka, at least, had also started to realize it.

It wasn't exactly hard to figure out. The swordsman knew too much and had too many esoteric skills, yet said almost nothing about himself beyond anecdotes that might or might not have been just tall tales. That he was disguising himself was basically a given, by this point.

Even so, that was the first time Minato had admitted to the fact, and Akihiko was tempted to try and use it as an opening. In the end, though, he decided not to. Minato was the field leader; if it was anyone's place to push, it was Mitsuru's, as overall head of the team. So far, she hadn't, and Akihiko wasn't going to undermine her decision.

So, in the end, he said simply, "Mitsuru's father knows most things, Minato. And not to put you down, Detective, but he's been at this kind of thing a lot longer than you have. Don't sweat it."

"…It's still disconcerting," Minato muttered.

"I bet," the boxer said dryly, with deliberate understatement. "But really, don't worry about it. If he knows things, he's known them at least since the original background check when you were being considered for SEES. If he didn't do anything then, he's not likely to now."

"…Feh."

Minato was obviously still uneasy, but his pace picked up-just incidentally preventing him from seeing Akihiko's grin. _You're always one step ahead of the rest of us, Detective. It's kind of funny to see you on the receiving end for once._

* * *

Minato was of two minds about beaches. On the one hand, he liked the ocean, and even he had to admit that it was good to get some sun once in a while; for all the dangers of skin cancer and plain old sunburn, he preferred to avoid looking too pasty. Saya had remarked, several years before, that he was looking downright vampiric, so he'd been careful to spend at least some time out in the sun on a regular basis ever since.

So yes, beaches had their benefits. They were even a great place to catch a nap, provided a hammock in a shady spot was available. On the other hand, there was high potential for things to go all sorts of wrong, in the most embarrassing ways possible.

_For example, if you have Junpei Iori as one of your traveling companions. Or Tsu-chan. Today I have the one, tomorrow I'll probably have the other. Heaven help me if I don't manage to arrange for Junpei to be elsewhere then, because I don't know I can handle both at once._

_**Look on the bright side, Master. It should be absolutely hilarious.**_

_Speak for yourself._

Walking down the path from the Kirijo vacation home, through the woods, down toward the beach, Minato was hopeful that Junpei might, somehow, be kept in check. Akihiko was with them, too, and given the boxer's attitude toward his own fan girls, there might just be a chance that he'd put a damper on Junpei's enthusiasm.

Failing that, Minato fully intended to disclaim any knowledge of Junpei's identity, the latter's distinctive hat be damned. _For one thing,_ he groused internally, _he's wearing it _backwards._ Have some class, man._

Junpei was going with just shorts and sandals, along with his infuriatingly arranged hat. Akihiko and Minato, by contrast, both wore shirts -in Minato's case for very good reason, if he said so himself- and the swordsman had topped things off with the same blue-tinted glasses he'd taken to wearing during anti-Shadow operations. Leaving aside pure style, he'd been spending enough of his waking hours in bad lighting of late that the noonday sun was decidedly uncomfortable.

"Okay, we're ready," Junpei announced to the world at large, as they emerged out onto the beach. "Got my sandals, my feet have a chance to breathe, and there's nothin' around but sand, sun, and sea!" He grinned, sweeping his gaze across the beach. "Oh, yeah, summer is officially here, baby! Time to rock out!"

_I've got a few songs for that,_ Minato thought, idly wishing he'd brought his MP3 player. _A little JAM Project would be perfect… too bad the player isn't waterproof._

"Not too crowded," he remarked aloud, following Junpei onto the open sand. "That's good."

Junpei rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you _would_ say that, wouldn't ya? But _some_ of us don't wanna spend the day all alone, y'know!"

Akihiko sighed, seeming similarly disappointed. "I don't see any markers," he said, shading his eyes with one hand as he looked out to the ocean. "Darn… not even any good landmarks around here. Too bad… I had some great ideas for swim training, too."

_Not a bad idea, actually. And it _has_ been awhile… Damn,_ Minato realized, _I haven't gone swimming since Okinawa._ He shivered suddenly, glad that his teammates weren't paying close enough attention to see his face just then. _Although maybe that's not such a bad thing. Well, not that I minded at the time, but this is not a good time to be…_

The direction he did _not_ want his thoughts to go in just then was thankfully derailed by Junpei's snort, directed at their senpai. "You gotta be kidding," he scoffed, as they neared the edge of the water itself; not far away was a beach chair, shaded by an umbrella. "C'mon, Senpai, you come all the way to Yakushima on vacation, and the first thing you think about is _training?_"

"So what?" Akihiko said defensively. "Hey, you've got your idea of fun, and I've got mine. What, you think you've got a better idea, Junpei?"

Another megawatt grin. "Darn right, Senpai. We're at the beach, aren't we? There's only one thing _that_ can mean for any real man!"

_Oh, hell. Any time I hear the expression "real man", I get the urge to run. Valkyrie, _please_ tell me he didn't actually say that._

_**Unfortunately, he did, Master.**_ Valkyrie's mental voice was notably disgruntled. _**Bah! The shallow barbarian!**_

_**Oh, I don't know,**_ Pixie drawled. _**I think **_**some**_** of this could be worthwhile. After all, one of the people still coming is…**_

_Shut. UP!_

Minato's sanity was given a brief reprieve when Junpei looked back toward the path they'd come down, and found a new target for his grin. "And here is that meaning!" he pronounced.

"…Huh?"

Said target's face bore a confused look, even as Junpei gave her a visual once-over that had Minato contemplating homicide again. "Our first contestant!" he said enthusiastically. "Yukari Takeba!" His voice took on deeper tone, like he was imitating an announcer. "Yes, as you all can see, she's chosen a very bold design-not at all what I had expected from her! It takes a lot of confidence to pull off something like that!"

Yes, homicide was very definitely on Minato's mind just then, and from the way Yukari's expression darkened, he figured she was thinking much the same. To Minato's consternation, though, he had to admit -_very_ privately- that Junpei had something of a point. For all that he was sick and tired of denying the various rumors around Gekkokan about him and Yukari, he wasn't blind.

The bikini and shorts combination Yukari was wearing _did_ become her quite well. He couldn't deny that, however loathe he was to agree with Junpei on anything at all to do with the topic. Under other circumstances, he probably would've found it very… interesting.

_Not that I'd say as much, certainly not in public,_ Minato reminded himself firmly. _There remains _that_ difference. Junpei wallows in that kind of thing. _I_ do not._

Visibly torn between anger and embarrassment, Yukari finally huffed in annoyance and settled for hitting Junpei with a glare. "Men," she muttered.

The comment slid off Junpei's hide like water off a raincoat, and did nothing to dampen his grin. Both the grin and his gaze were almost immediately directed elsewhere, though, as someone else came down the path toward them.

"Hi, guys," Fuuka said, approaching the spot the others had gathered at. "Is that umbrella taken?" she added, nodding at the shaded chair.

Minato was about to tell her to make herself at home, hoping to head off the comments he knew were coming, but Junpei was too fast for him. "And here we have Contestant Number Two," he announced, pontificating again. "Fuuka Yamagishi! Fuuka…" He trailed off, eyes widening slightly as he took in her figure. "Wow, Fuuka… I had no idea you were so… Well! You oughtta wear a swimsuit more often!"

"Huh?" Fuuka blinked, tilting her head in confusion. Her eyes narrowed in momentary concentration, then widened, accompanied by a blush. Minato wasn't sure if she'd finally noticed where Junpei was looking, or if something else had tipped her off somehow, but she quickly ducked behind Yukari, looking mortified.

_Too frilly,_ was Minato's own internal comment about Fuuka's two-piece. Beyond that, he was more concerned with Junpei's behavior.

The Man in the Hat didn't appear at all abashed by Fuuka's reaction to his scrutiny, either, and merely cranked up the wattage on his grin. "Aw, c'mon, Fuuka-chan! Believe me, you've got _nothing _to be embarrassed about!" He followed up with a laugh.

That laugh was cut off by Minato's hand smacking him on the back of the head. "Get a hold of yourself, Stupei," he ordered, borrowing Yukari's nickname for the goateed one. "There's 'being a guy', and then there's just plain creepy. The first is bad enough."

"Heh, you got no soul, Minato!" Junpei shot back, rubbing the spot that had received the slap. "But hey! I bet even _you_ won't be able to ignore what's up next!"

_What's up next…? Oh, hell. I knew I was forgetting a reason to be uncomfortable. How the hell am I going to get through this one…?_

_**Yes, Master! This is what we've all been waiting for, isn't?**_

_And it's not at all creepy that a female-aligned aspect of my subconscious is saying that in this context. Not at all. …Pixie, someday I _will_ find a way to murder you, part of my own head be damned._

As he'd feared, from Junpei's comments, there was indeed one more person coming down the path to the beach. Even Akihiko, who had so far looking more exasperated than anything else by Junpei's commentary, turned to watch the last figure approach. So did Yukari and Fuuka, for that matter.

Minato didn't really notice the others' reactions after the first second or so. He was busy drawing on the suddenly-offered strength of Orpheus to school his face into the closest approximation of a stone statue that he possibly could, even as the sight before him did its best to tug at his expression.

It wasn't a problem he'd had much in the past two years. After the Incident, avoiding anything resembling overt interest in the female form had been dead easy for him, the memories too fresh for simple casual glances to rivet his attention. To be sure, Tsu-chan had succeeded in getting his full attention, among other things, culminating in the… celebration… that concluded the Ship in a Bottle incident, but she'd been anything but subtle.

Tsuruya had actively _worked_ to get Minato's attention. Perhaps it was just the mind control incident during the Tanabata Operation, but Mitsuru Kirijo merely had to walk into view, and suddenly Minato couldn't see anything else.

He vaguely heard Junpei making one last remark about "contestants", but it didn't really register. He did notice his Senpai's bewildered look when she realize she was being stared at, and kind of noticed Yukari and Fuuka's awed reactions, but that was about it.

Far more important, to Minato's suddenly fixated mind, was Mitsuru herself. Wearing a white sarong-bikini combination, enough smooth skin was exposed to remind him forcefully of Tanabata, and for several seconds he couldn't bring himself to even care about the context of that event. The scars he'd discovered that night weren't in view -fortunately for his sanity- but a little too much else…

About then, Mitsuru finally spotted him in turn, and for a split second her eyes widened, before she applied what looked to be as much self-control as he was to smooth out her expression. Controlled face or not, though, she quite visibly gave Minato the same once-over he did her. That reminded him, with suddenly redoubled discomfort, that while he was covering his own scars, the blue t-shirt was an older one.

He'd put one a fair bit more muscle since he'd joined SEES, and only now did it occur to him that the shirt probably showed off more than a little of it.

Doubtless, the same memories were going through her head as his.

_**But this is not the same, Young Master,**_ a melodic voice whispered in the depths of his mind. _**This is by choice, and 'tis nothing more than sight. Nothing will happen that you do not choose to happen, this time.**_

_**Do not reject what may be good, merely because the first hint was under ill circumstance. Let what may be, be.**_

After a long moment, almost too long -almost long enough for the others to start noticing something odd- Minato took a deep breath, and forced away the tunnel vision that had been imposed on him. Relaxing the stone that had infused his face, he managed a small but genuine smile, and nodded to Mitsuru.

Her eyes widened fractionally again, then narrowed; perhaps, he suspected, her own Persona was giving her a much-needed reassurance. As the attention around her began to disperse, a small smile played at her lips, and she nodded to him in return.

It was probably the most ease with which they'd looked at each other since Tanabata, and Minato felt some tension that had still lingered from that night finally begin to drain. He didn't know what might happen from here, wasn't prepared to even guess; after all, when you got right down to it, they barely knew each other, and it would be a mistake to read too much into the events of one night that had involved so much mental meddling. Regardless, just being able to look at each other again, _without_ immediately looking away in embarrassment, was a huge load off the mind.

Junpei was heading back over now, a conspiratorial grin on his face. For a second, Minato feared it meant that he'd noticed the shared glance, but then realized the Idiot's expression would probably have been either shocked, or gleeful. _Small miracle, that. Even now, as far as anyone else knows Senpai and I had no problems at all that night. I would _really_ like to keep it that way._

Junpei came to a stop by Minato's side, facing the other way. "So," he said in a whisper, "whaddya think, eh?"

"…About what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Minato." He twitched his head back toward where the girls were. "I know you may kill for me this, but I gotta ask… which one really _is_ your type? I mean, the rumors are still goin' around the school, and now's the perfect time to find out…"

Minato closed his eyes, and counted, very slowly, to ten. Then twenty. Then, "Junpei. I know at least three different ways to kill you in this scenario, and make it look like an accident. I could disguise a murder as mere manslaughter by stomping on your foot, and making it look like you broke your neck when you hit the ground, instead of when I elbowed your trachea. Need I go into more detail?"

"…Yeah, I thought that's what you'd say." Undaunted, Junpei stepped back, still grinning. "But we got another two days of beach-going, Minato! Even you can't keep up a stone face forever, and when you slip, I'll know!"

…_Didn't Tsu-chan tell me about memory-modification techniques once? I can't quite remember…_

_**I shall archive-binge for the relevant recollection, Master,**_ Valkyrie vowed. _**If the barbarian sees something he shouldn't, we shall arrange him to be unable to tell anyone else!**_

A giggle. _**Yeah, I can get behind that. But that's not the important thing, is it, Master? Senpai really **_**does**_** look… Well! Don't you think that makes this whole trip worth it?**_

There really wasn't any reply Minato could think of for that one. Not one that conveyed exactly the sense he wanted it to, anyway. He might be able to manage to get across his annoyance, but no way he could think of would actually succeed in shutting up the lecherous Fae. Worse, he couldn't think of any way to effectively phrase a proper denial.

He never was that good at lying to himself, after all.

Junpei had, by now, turned to new topics of excitement, and was waving toward the water. "C'mon, guys!" he shouted, grinning wider than ever. "It's summer, we got girls, and we got the ocean! It's _heaven,_ baby! Let's get to swimming! _Charge!"_

Well, at least he was lead-from-the-front kind of general, Minato reflected. The Man in the Hat rushed straight for the water, diving in without even waiting to see if anyone was following his "order".

Akihiko sighed, shrugged, and followed him, doubtless hoping to salvage some kind of exercise from the situation. After exchanging glances mixing amusement with a certain degree of dread, Fuuka and Yukari went along too; though, oddly, Fuuka shot Minato an inscrutable look as she passed.

_Well,_ Minato mused, turned toward the ocean himself, _I guess a good swim is as good a way as any to start the day's "fun". And maybe better to get some in _before_ Tsu-chan turns up to complicate things. I know she will._

After taking a few minutes to stretch his muscles -cramps while swimming didn't strike him as a good thing- he started to follow his comrades into the water. A few steps away, though, he paused, having the strange feeling that someone was watching him.

Glancing around, he quickly discovered the feeling was correct. Lying on the beach chair Fuuka had previously inquired about, umbrella leaving her partly in shadow, Mitsuru was gazing at him curiously. Her expression was mostly unreadable, but he could tell that much, and it made him feel just slightly strange.

After a moment, though, she offered him another smile, and leaned back in the chair.

…_Huh. _Minato thought about it for just a moment, then shrugged, smiling slightly to himself. Somehow, as "strange" as that last had felt, it wasn't really uncomfortable. It was… more friendly, he thought, that anything else. Friendlier than he was used to with the habitually-distant Student Council President.

He didn't mind it, he thought, as he finally lunged into the refreshingly chill water. No, he didn't mind it one bit.

* * *

Evening

* * *

Despite how… awkward… a few moments on the beach had been. Mitsuru felt refreshed, more relaxed than she had been in some weeks. Somehow, she and Arisato had even managed to work past most of the lingering tension from the Tanabata encounter; neither of them was likely to forget it any time soon, but at least now they could look one another in the eye again.

As a whole, she thought as she made her way toward her father's office in the vacation house, the team was meshing better than they ever had before. Iori had clearly patched things up with Arisato, Takeba no longer seemed on edge over Yamagishi's recruitment, and Mitsuru herself was, gradually, finding it easier to relax around her juniors.

Even so, there remained things to clear up, which had brought her to where she was in the first place. Like she'd told Takeba, it only made sense for them to come to Yakushima at this time, in the wake of the revelation of what SEES was really doing.

To Mitsuru's surprise, though, she didn't find her father in his office. Instead, as she stood outside it trying to work up the nerve to knock, he came from the other end of the hall, pausing a couple of meters away when he noticed her. As had been the case as long as she could remember, her father was very quiet, both in step and voice; for a few moments, he merely looked at her, cigarette in hand.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well, Father," Mitsuru ventured, when it became clear he wouldn't make the first move. "It's been some time…"

He only nodded at that, barely an acknowledgement; she knew not to take it personally, at least, knowing well that her father was far from the cold, menacing man he often appeared on the surface. Like so many people around her these days, her father presented a mask to the world.

_I sometimes wonder that he hasn't manifested a Persona himself,_ she mused absently, waiting for him to make known what was really on his mind.

"I take it our guests are residents of the dorm," her father said at last, more a statement than a question. "I recognize one of them, at least, as one of the new SEES candidates from earlier this year."

"That's right," Mitsuru confirmed cautiously. "Arisato, Takeba, Iori, and Yamagishi are all new recruits." She glanced away. "I'm sorry for bringing so many of them, but…"

Her father waved a hand dismissively; his mask slipped as he did so, showing some of the concern that he usually hid so well. "That's not a problem, Mitsuru. Such guests are very welcome; I'm relieved to see that you have so many you can trust by your side."

The rare statement brought her head back up. "Father…?"

"I'm not at all upset, Mitsuru," he said quietly. "Except by one thing: why did you hide the truth from them for so long?"

That was one of the things that she'd always thought would most surprise people about Takeharu Kirijo. For all that he, as with the rest of the Kirijo Group, worked hard to keep the truth about Shadows and the Dark Hour hidden from the general public, he preferred to keep no such secrets among those who did need to know.

If you were involved, you deserved to know the full truth. Her father made no equivocations about his own involvement, nor his own father's, when the subject came up. Mitsuru had always admired that about her father… even as she tried with all her might to deny his particular part in it herself.

"…I wasn't…" Mitsuru hesitated, looking away again. "I just couldn't find the right time to tell them everything, Father. It's not the sort of thing you explain to someone who doesn't already understand…"

The elder Kirijo sighed, closing his remaining eye. "Mitsuru," he said quietly, "I have told you this many times over the years: what happened was _not_, in _any_ way, your fault. You were a child, with neither power nor understanding of what my father was attempting." His face tightened with remembered anguish. "You had no part in what happened that day, and what was done to _you_ was an unconscionable sin by _others,_ not you."

Mitsuru shivered, flashing back for a moment to half-remembered, horrible days. Days before she gained full control… "But I…"

"I mean it, Mitsuru. None of the blame lies with you." Her father turned to look down the hall, from which came the faint sounds of the other members of SEES returning. "I saw some of your interactions today. Even knowing the truth, none of your comrades think less of you, do they?"

She twitched at that. It was true that Takeba had reacted with rage at first, but even she had settled down; and while it might be expected, at this point, that Arisato would have taken it in stride, it was probably instructive that neither the hot-blooded Iori nor shy Yamagishi had seemed very bothered at all. Neither of them had reacted _well,_ but… it was true that their unease had appeared more about the events described than her personally.

Certainly none of them had shown any issue with her today. The closest to a "problem" that she'd had would've been Iori's -in hindsight predictable- reaction to seeing her in a swimsuit. _And Arisato's,_ she thought privately. _He hid it well, but still…_

Her father nodded at what Mitsuru didn't say. "Remember, Mitsuru: 'Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection'," he quoted quietly. "Ever since Kirijo separated from Nanjo, that has been the guiding principle of our Group… and our family. There are things in this world that cannot be accomplished by one alone, no matter how much is sacrificed." He fixed his eye on hers. "Learn to trust them, Mitsuru. They've earned it."

Mitsuru unconsciously gripped her left arm with her right hand. "…I understand, Father."

"I'm not sure you do," he retorted, voice sharpening again. "You accessed our database, or had one of the others do it for you, didn't you?" He didn't seem to need her guilty look to confirm the accusation. "You didn't need to do that, Mitsuru, nor use this trip as an excuse. You could've just asked me directly."

She flinched, unable to meet that Cyclopean gaze any longer. "I have no excuse," she whispered.

Her father sighed. "I am not angry, Mitsuru. Merely concerned. You take far too much on your own shoulders." He shook his head. "Bring them all here, Mitsuru. Whether or not you should've told them yourself, I admit there are things that you could not have explained to them. Things _all_ of you deserve to know. Now is an excellent chance to reveal everything, to all of you."

"Everything…?" Mitsuru looked up at him again, eyes wide with confusion. "Father…?" As far as she knew, she _already_ knew as much as anyone did about the incident; Yamagishi's probing had seemed to confirm that not much more data had survived the explosion than what she'd already known.

She'd expected that, as a survivor, her father would have a different perspective on what had happened, but she hadn't anticipated anything more than that.

Her father was continuing toward his office now, heedless of her inquiry. As he reached the door, though, he paused again. "You mentioned Takeba, and Arisato, yes?"

"Ah, yes, that's right," Mitsuru confirmed, puzzled by the change in topic.

"Takeba and Arisato… yes, I thought I remembered those names from the background checks." Her father looked up toward the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. "The hand of Fate is a mystery. For those two to awaken to their power, of all people… I wonder if the Fates are laughing at us."

"Father…?"

He shook his head. "You will understand soon enough, Mitsuru. As sad as it is. We owe Arisato's grandfather much… and we owe Takeba a debt I fear we can never repay."

* * *

Minato wasn't sure what to expect, when he and the rest of SEES were gathered into a parlor in the Kirijo vacation home. His Senpai had seemed oddly subdued when she summoned the team, as if whatever tension had been underlying her good mood thus far had come to the surface. All she'd said was that her father wanted to speak to them all, and that told him very little.

He knew the Kirijo Group in general far better than he was normally inclined to let on, but he'd never met Takeharu Kirijo prior to the encounter in the hallway earlier that day. His grandfather had indicated the CEO was worthy of trust, but beyond that Minato was pretty much in the dark. And from the look of things, the same held true for his compatriots.

_With the possible exception of Akihiko-senpai,_ he thought, as they all took places around a table, facing toward a television screen. Kirijo himself sat at the center of the half-circle, a somber expression on his face. _He's known Senpai longer than any of us, so he might have an idea of what's going on. Might._

When they'd all taken seats, Kirijo looked them over, a brief repeat of his silent measuring earlier that day. What exactly he found, Minato couldn't say, but it seemed to satisfy him. "I take it Mitsuru has already told you most of what happened," he began quietly, without preamble. "The short version, at least, of what happened ten years ago."

"Yeah," Yukari confirmed, with a cautious nod.

"Well," he said heavily, "it's all true. We of the Kirijo Group, those of us who were old enough to know better at the time, are responsible for what happened back then. If I could've atoned for our actions with my life, I would've gladly done so."

_And interestingly enough, I think he means it,_ Minato realized with slight surprise. _Most times you hear people say, "I'd rather be dead", they don't really mean it literally. Kirijo-san does…_

"My death, however, would be meaningless," Kirijo continued, his one-eyed gaze sweeping back and forth across them. "Against this threat, I am powerless. I have no choice but to rely on you young people, and your power of Persona. Had I that power myself, I would never place you in this position, but I don't, and this _needs_ to be done." He leaned back in his chair, eye focusing on something only he could see. "My father… what he was trying to do, was to create a time manipulation device."

Mitsuru leaned forward, eyes widening. "That was his objective?" she whispered, visibly surprised. "I never knew…"

Minato grimaced. "Manipulating time and space never ends well," he muttered.

Kirijo nodded. "In practice, you are quite correct, Arisato. In theory? Think of it. Imagine if you could control the flow of time, reverse it, or even accelerate it. You could learn what lay ahead, and 'correct' what had already occurred. The future… no, the entire world could be shaped to your liking."

"Humans are not meant to wield the power of gods," the swordsman said, respectful but firm. He'd heard enough stories, and had had one personal experience, that demonstrated the problems of power without understanding.

"It's insane," Junpei agreed, shaking his head.

"I won't deny that," Kirijo said, giving Minato a long, searching look. "Of course, as to whether the original goal would've worked or not, I cannot say, because it never reached that point. Gradually, under my father's direction, the goal of the research began to change. In his later years, my father's own heart began to change, to the extent that I believe by the end there was nothing left in him but nihilism. Perhaps the implications of time control broke his mind…"

Minato could well believe that. His head hurt badly enough just reading time travel stories, sometimes. Trying to deal with the implications of really having temporal manipulation at your fingertips? _With great power comes great insanity,_ he thought. _The human brain isn't wired to comprehend time in anything but a linear fashion._

It was about then that he noticed Yukari was starting to tense up. In retrospect, not very surprising; the subject at hand was clearly leading up to the accident from ten years ago, and given what she'd said about her father having died in it…

"At any rate," Kirijo said after a moment, "I understand you all have been looking into what happened at the end of that research, through various means. It's only natural for you to want to know the truth about what you're fighting… and it's my duty to tell you. There will be no more secrets, no more need for you to search for the answers that should've been given to you from the start." Picking up a remote from the table, he clicked it, bringing the television to life.

The scene that was displayed was hard to make out. It was full of static, as if the camera were damaged; about all Minato could say for sure was that it was showing a laboratory, with a man in a white lab coat standing close to the camera. His face looked somehow familiar to him-as did the expression of mixed self-loathing and despair.

"What _is_ this?" Akihiko asked, voicing the general sentiment.

_I think I've got a pretty good idea, actually…_

"The only surviving footage of the accident at the Gekkokan Lab, ten years ago," Kirijo said quietly. "Recorded by one of the researchers who was on the scene."

Yukari had gone bone-white; Minato had an unpleasant feeling he knew why, and why the man's face looked familiar to him.

"_I pray that this recording reaches safe hands…"_

"That voice…!"

"_My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea,"_ the scientist said, against a background of frantic voices and unidentifiable but distinctly ominous sounds. _"This experiment should never have even been conceived…"_ His expression twisted even further. _"What I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster… but if I hadn't, the entire world would pay the price."_

"The entire world…?" Fuuka whispered, speaking for the first time since they'd gathered. Curiously, to Minato's eyes, she was shivering.

_Come to think of it, that's not the first time I've seen her react so oddly. I wonder why?_

On the screen, the scientist's face took on a pleading look. _"Please, you _must_ listen carefully. The Shadows that were amassed here for the experiment will be dispersed by the explosion. To end this nightmare you must destroy all of them!"_ There were tears running down his face now.

In the background, Minato made out a little of what was being said by others. _"Hurry, shut it down! The whole thing is going critical… Dammit, it's going to-!"_

"_I am to blame for all this,"_ the scientist said, heedless of his colleagues' panic. _"I knew the risks, but I was blinded by the tremendous possibility success represented… And so, I raised no objections, until it was too late. It is all my fault… this is the only option left to me…"_

"_Emergency shutd-!"_

A loud roar eclipsed the remaining audio, and the screen went white, then darkened as the recording shut off completely.

There was no sound at all in the room for several seconds, beyond the quiet hum of a ceiling fan. They had just seen the exact moment that the Dark Hour had been created, the moment that the conflict they'd gathered together to fight had begun. What could be said?

Then, slowly, unsteadily, Yukari came to her feet. "…Dad…" she whispered, eyes turning watery.

The others turned to look at her sharply; save, Minato noticed, Kirijo, who seemed to have expected the reaction. "You mean," Fuuka gasped out, "that man was…?"

_Well. _That_ explains a hell of a lot, doesn't it?_

Mitsuru turned, very slowly, to look at Kirijo. "Father…?"

_So Senpai didn't know everything, either. Well, isn't this a fine mess?_

"His name was Eiichiro Takeba," Kirijo confirmed quietly, looking not at his daughter but rather Yukari. His face was difficult to read, but his voice was heavy with sadness. "He was the head researcher of the Gekkokan Lab, and one of the most talented men to ever work for the Kirijo Group. He was instrumental in bringing the project forward. But," he added, "_we_ are the ones to blame for pushing him. The Kirijo Group gave him the objective, and bears the responsibility for his actions, and for his death."

Mitsuru stared, visibly shaken. "I… I can't believe it… Takeba's father was…?"

Yukari's face was no longer pale, but Minato couldn't tell much beyond that. She was staring at the floor now, her hair obscuring her face from view. "So that means," she whispered, "that my _father_ was the one who caused everything? …The Dark Hour… Tartarus… all those people who died… all the students were became Lost… Everything was Dad's fault…?"

_Uh-oh._

"Yukari," Minato began, starting to rise. "Yukari, it's not-"

She turned suddenly, ignoring him completely to glare at Mitsuru. "Is _this_ why you were hiding the truth?" she demanded bitterly. "To protect me? Because you felt _sorry_ for me?! _Is that it?!"_

Mitsuru shook her head, eyes wide. "No! Takeba, I didn't even-"

Yukari didn't seem to be listening to her either. "I don't want pity!" she snapped. "I never wanted-!" Breaking off, she whirled, and fled the room.

_Well. Crud._

Kirijo sighed, closed his eye, and sank back in his chair. "For what it's worth," he said into the silence, "I am sorry. I don't expect that to be any consolation, however…"

The members of SEES stared at one another, then looked toward where Yukari had disappeared, almost ripping a door off its hinges in her haste. "Damn," Junpei whispered. "I didn't even know her dad was involved in the incident at all. I knew he was dead, but…"

_Yukari doesn't talk about herself much more than I do. …None of us do, come right down to it. I wonder if that's part of the problem? Do we just not trust each other…?_

_**Master?**_

…_Yeah. I know._

"Shouldn't someone follow her?" Fuuka asked tentatively. Strangely, she looked _more_ relaxed than she had before Yukari departed, but concern was still very evident on her face.

Mitsuru closed her eyes. "Yes, of course." A deep breath, and then she turned her gaze to the inevitable choice. "Arisato? Can you…?"

"I'll handle it, Senpai," Minato confirmed, coming to his feet. "I don't know how much I can do, but…"

But he was the one who was probably closest to Yukari, who had no particular connection to the Kirijo Group, and whom everyone realized by now had skeletons in his own closet. And who had something of a knack for saying the right thing.

_**Tsuruya did it for you, Master,**_ Pixie remarked, as Minato left the room in Yukari's wake. _**Your turn, I suppose.**_

_I can try, anyway. …Back me up, Pixie._

_**Of course, Master. Always and forever.**_

* * *

Yukari fled blindly from the Kirijo house. From the moment the recording ended, she'd hardly been aware of her surroundings at all, hardly even known what she was saying as she shouted her accusations at Mitsuru. All she could see was her father's face, twisted in pain and self-loathing, before it was wiped away by an explosion; all she could hear was his confession of guilt, and desperate plea.

_It can't be true,_ she thought, running down a path she barely saw at all. _Not Dad… He _couldn't_…!_

The pounding of shoes on pavement gradually changed to the softness of a sand, and when Yukari looked up again she found herself at the beach, right at the very edge of the ocean. Nothing before her but the water, lapping at the sand, stretching clear out to the horizon. Nothing above her but the pure black of a night sky far away from the city, speckled with a glittering pattern of stars, lit by the crescent moon.

No sound but the gentle ebb and flow of the waves. Nothing around except… her.

Emptiness suited Yukari just fine right now. Emptiness didn't _hurt._ Emptiness just… was. Right here, right now, she could pretend as if she was the only thing that existed there at all, and that soon, perhaps even she would be gone. She could pretend that the pain wasn't there at all, and that she hadn't seen that video.

She could pretend…

Yukari never heard a sound. Between one glance and the next, he was suddenly _there,_ standing a discrete two meters to her right. Still wearing the simple jeans and t-shirt she'd seen in him only minutes before, Minato Arisato had somehow found the time to put on his duster and swords, and materialized by her side, coat billowing gently in the breeze.

She jumped in surprise. "Minato-! How did you…?"

He smiled gently. "It's a kind of magic," he replied, and said nothing else.

Yukari had noticed Minato had a talent for saying the right thing at the right time. Now, she found, he had a knack for knowing when to say nothing at all. He just stood there, hands in his pockets, and waited, letting her make the next move.

She'd come out here in an unthinking need to be alone. Somehow, though, Minato's unexpected appearance didn't seem an intrusion at all. It was… comforting, actually. _If anyone could understand,_ she thought, _it would be Minato… wouldn't it?_

She wasn't sure how much time passed before she finally spoke up. "I always believed in him, you know?" she said softly. "Even after all these years… And now, to be told _that,_ after everything… It's too much." She glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "Remember what I told you at the hospital? About how my father died when I was little? …You understand now, right?"

Minato nodded. "Yes," he said simply.

"Nobody knew what really happened," she mused, looking back out to sea. "There were all kinds of rumors, though… And since he was in charge of the research team, people were really mean to me and my mom. We even had to move a few times, just to get away from the bullying…"

Again, he nodded. "I've seen that before," he said, grimacing slightly. "That can be… rough."

"It was." Yukari sighed. "Even so, all this time, I kept telling myself it wasn't his fault. I mean, if nobody knew what really happened, he was just as likely to be the one who tried to stop it as the one who caused it, right? …I loved him a lot, and I couldn't believe he'd ever do anything wrong."

She'd been so very young when her father died, but she remembered him well enough to have held to that belief. Maybe it was a child's unconditional faith in a father, but that belief had been steadfast, and it had gotten her through all the rough patches, all of the abuse people heaped on what was left of her family.

Even through her mother's disgraceful behavior.

"I got a letter last spring," Yukari continued at length. "He'd written it ten years ago, and arranged for it to get to me then. It was funny," she admitted, managing a brief, weak laugh. "He'd addressed it 'To my family', but it was really all about me. That only made me believe in him more, y'know? And then I found out I had a special power… I thought it was fate."

Actually, she remembered, gazing out at the moonlit ocean, it had felt at first like she'd fallen into a manga or something. Like something straight out of _Sailor Moon,_ where an ordinary high school girl turned out to have extraordinary powers… turned out to have something that might just be the key to finding the answer to the question that had tormented her for so many years.

"I was scared, when I realized what it really meant," Yukari went on, thinking back. "This is real life, after all, not some shoujo manga. I couldn't be sure of a happy ending, or even that I'd survive it. But then I thought to myself, if I cooperated with the Kirijo Group, maybe I'd find out what really happened back then. That's why I agreed to fight, using my Persona." She closed her eyes, feeling tears begin to well up. "I never imagined the truth would be something like this. All of it, everything I believed, everything I fought for… It was all for _nothing."_

Minato stirred. "That's not true, Yukari."

She chuckled, a hollow sound. "You're just trying to make me feel better," she pointed out. She appreciated the gesture, but she knew better than to really believe it.

"I don't say things 'just make people feel better', Yukari."

"Yeah, right." Yukari shrugged off the effort, the weight of what she'd learned pushing out even Minato's attempts at reassurance. She knew he couldn't really believe what he'd said, not after the glimpses she'd gotten of his own baggage.

He knew as well as she'd just learned just how unfair the universe really was.

"Why does the world have to be so harsh?" she whispered, voicing the thought. "I tried so hard to fight my fears, and this is what I get…?" A sigh, of resignation, of despair. "Maybe I'm just jealous of Mitsuru-senpai. I mean, why my father, not hers?" Another laugh, this one completely hollow, more directed at herself than anything else. The thought was so low, so petty. So… "I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

She could just barely see Minato shake his head. "No, Yukari. You're human."

_And of course he just shrugs it off,_ Yukari thought, with sudden heat. _Mitsuru-senpai admits she's been keeping things from us, and you shrug it off. You get in a fight with a dozen thugs, and you shrug it off. You find out my father's a murderer, and you just-!_

"Well, aren't _you_ just Mister Perfect?" she snapped, unconsciously echoing some of Junpei's complaints from weeks ago. Whirling on him, she directed an impressive glare at the swordsman. "Nothing ever fazes you at all! And now, you have the nerve to tell _me_ how I should feel?! You don't know _anything-!"_

"_Never again! I'll _never_ look back again!"_

Yukari broke off, anger vanishing in a puff of emotional smoke as she remembered just who she was talking to. She wasn't talking to Junpei, or Mitsuru, or even Akihiko or Fuuka. It was…

"…Sorry," she whispered, looking away. "I… I didn't mean…"

Soft footsteps reached her ears, and then she felt hands on her shoulders. "Yukari," Minato said quietly, "you have nothing to be ashamed of. Nor do you need to give up on what you'd believed."

Yukari looked up, reluctantly meeting his gaze through tear-filled eyes. "What… you mean, keep believing? But, but my father…"

"You're looking at this wrong, Yukari," he told her gently. "Whatever your father may have done at the beginning, he did the right thing at the end. Yes," he acknowledged, "it created the Dark Hour, and Tartarus, and set loose those Shadows. But didn't you hear what else he said? That it would've been _worse_ otherwise? Yes, the project itself was terrible, but your father realized that, at the end. Too late, maybe, to undo it, but not too late to give us a fighting chance."

"_What I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster… but if I hadn't, the entire world would pay the price…"_

She stared at him, remembering now that part of her father's message. "It would've been worse…?"

"Speaking from some slight experience, Yukari, messing with time and space is a very delicate process. I don't know what, exactly, the details of the Kirijo experiment were, but I'd guess the worst case in a situation that _did_ create the Dark Hour could've involved the end of the world." Minato left one hand on Yukari's shoulder, but released the other to turn and look out at the ocean. "I don't know enough about what happened, even now, to judge what your father did at the start. But at the _end,_ he did the only thing he could, and he left it in our hands."

Yukari thought she was beginning to get a sense of when Minato was telling tall tales, being sarcastic, or just generally messing around. This time, she saw none of that in his expression, heard none of it in his voice. As far as she could tell, he meant exactly what he said.

She'd kind of thought of him as being like a hero ever since the monorail operation. Now, standing there under the moonlight, coat rustling in the sea breeze, sword hilts protruding over his shoulders, that impression hit her again, strongly. The kind of person who could always be counted on to be there, for a battle… or for the emotional turmoil that came after.

"Y'know," Yukari said after a long moment, "you really are one of a kind, Minato. How did you get so wise?"

"I'm not wise," Minato denied at once.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then how do you always seem to know the right thing to say?"

"Having the right answers, Yukari, is just knowledge," he told her. "Wisdom? That's having the right _questions._ I haven't quite gotten that part down yet."

"Coulda fooled me, sometimes," Yukari said, shaking her head. "…So let me guess: you're here because Mitsuru-senpai asked you to follow me, right?"

"I'm here because I don't like seeing a friend in the kind of pain I used to live with," Minato retorted. "You think I'd stand by and watch you suffer alone?"

She blushed, and hoped it wasn't visible in the moonlight. That was about the most forthright he'd ever been with her, and doing so while liking all dramatic and everything…

"Well, aren't _you_ the gentleman?" she said, trying to cover her embarrassment; especially when she realized she'd gotten quite close to him indeed, during the conversation. "…Thanks, Minato," she whispered. "That… means a lot to me."

On impulse, Yukari closed the last few centimeters and hugged him, hiding her blush against the dark fabric covering his shoulder. Somewhat to her surprise, after a bare moment of surprised stillness, he wrapped his arms around her in turn.

It had been a long, long time since anyone held her that way. Her father had been gone so many years, and even if her mother had offered, she would've refused; she'd moved out to live in boarding schools as early as possible for a reason. Just the warmth of an embrace could go far to ease the mind…

_Friends…_ Yukari thought. _It's been so long, I'd forgotten just what a difference having a good friend can be. …I may not know where Minato came from, or what happened to him in the past, but… I'm glad he's here._

She felt Minato tense abruptly. "Crud," he muttered.

That was just enough warning for her to shove herself away before the running footsteps she suddenly heard could bring the owner into view of them. Considering who turned out to be making the racket, she was deeply grateful for the lead time.

"What the hell's… taking so long, guys?" Junpei demanded, skidding to a stop. "Everybody's… waiting… It's almost the… Dark Hour, remember?"

Yukari took some perverse satisfaction both in the fact that Junpei was visibly exhausted, and the thought that Minato wouldn't have been in the other's shoes. Not enough, though, to keep the blush off her face. "Oh, that's right!" she blurted out, turning away. "I-I almost forgot… It doesn't matter where you are when the Dark Hour hits, does it?"

Junpei gave her a weird look. "Well, duh. And… did I miss something?" He looked from Yukari to Minato, and frowned. "You look kinda… off. And Minato, how the hell are you not burning up in that coat?"

"It's a kind of magic," Minato replied, his own face slightly averted.

"…Right. Whatever." The Man in the Hat shook his head. "Well, at least _you're_ ready for the Dark Hour…"

_He didn't get it,_ Yukari realized, relieved. _Phew…_ "You know," she said aloud, trying to get more distance from the topic of almost-getting-caught, "I've been thinking lately. Getting a Persona really is 'waking up', isn't it? You can't just 'sleep' through the Dark Hour any more, or forget it… It's like you trade your innocence for power. You can fight, but you can't just look away from the Dark anymore…" She shook her head, chuckling a little. "So… I guess I'm stuck with you guys, huh?"

"Afraid so," Minato confirmed, nodding firmly.

"'Course you are!" Junpei said, grinning. "Don't ever think otherwise!"

_My own hero, and my own comic relief,_ Yukari thought, laughing inside. _I guess I could do worse._

"Well," Junpei said now, "now that we've got the obvious out of the way, let's head back! Gotta get some sleep for tomorrow!"

"You go on ahead," Minato told them, waving a hand as he turned back to the ocean. "I'll be along."

The goateed one gave him a strange look, before shrugging. "Your funeral, dude. At least you're armed… but don't come crying to me if anything happens!"

He took off back the way he came; but as Yukari moved to follow, she turned to look over her shoulder at their leader. _Minato… thanks for everything,_ she thought. _…I'm really glad you're here._

* * *

Watching from the cover of the foliage on the upper edge of the beach, Mitsuru waited for Iori and Takeba to head back up the path, oblivious to her presence. Unlike Iori, she wore her rapier and Evoker at her waist, much like Arisato, though unlike the swordsman she was otherwise still just in her casual tank top.

Having watched most of the conversation, she was fairly sure he'd worn his duster to invoke precisely the dramatic appearance he presented. Most likely the same for his weapons. She carried her own as a precaution, but given how extremely unlikely it was that Shadows would turn up at Yakushima, of all places…

_I'm sure he meant every word he said,_ Mitsuru thought, watching Arisato stare out over the moonlit ocean; he seemed to be singing to himself, very quietly, a side of him she hadn't seen before. _I also think he knows perfectly well how Takeba is starting to see him. Interesting to see him do it on purpose. It does seem to have worked, at least._

That was a relief. She'd been genuinely worried about Takeba, this time. Even she hadn't known that her junior's father had been so central to the incident, and finding out in such a fashion had obviously been a bitter blow. Just as obviously, though, Arisato had had some idea of how to handle it-which, to be honest, Mitsuru had been counting on.

_I guess we both know how to manipulate a situation when we have to._

Once she was sure Takeba and Iori were well out of sight and earshot, Mitsuru emerged from the greenery and quietly made her way across the beach. Her footfalls were slow and careful, angling to come up on Arisato's left without entering his field of view until the last moment. It was a small thing, but she had to admit to taking a certain satisfaction in her evident ability to sneak up on him; given how he consistently seemed to know more than anyone expected him to, it was actually funny how he never seemed to notice her approach.

Not that she'd ever admit it. That would be undignified.

"Nice work, Arisato," Mitsuru said, once she'd reached her intended spot.

As expected, Arisato jumped, though he managed to bury the reaction almost immediately. "Senpai," he said, only a slight quiver in his voice to betray the adrenaline running through his veins. "I didn't expect to see you out here."

"I wanted to make sure everything was all right," she said, shrugging. With a sidelong glance at him, she added, "It sounded to me like that wasn't the first time you used some of that reasoning."

"It was, actually," he told her, shaking his head slowly. "I've never been in the position of talking someone down like that." Arisato paused, then admitted, "I've been in _Yukari's_ place before, though…"

Mitsuru nodded, unsurprised. After what had happened the night they rescued Yamagishi, she wouldn't have believed him if he'd claimed otherwise. It did, perhaps, serve to explain how patient he tended to be with others' issues, including the reticence her own father had called _her_ out on.

Which, of course, called to mind _Arisato's_ persistent reticence. She was prepared to indulge most of it, but sooner or later she needed to know more about him, if they were truly going to be part of a team. Like her father had said, her family's guiding principle was "Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection". That harmony required at least some trust, and exchanged confidences, on both sides.

She manifestly refused to think, just then, of the other possible meanings of "Two in harmony".

"Arisato," Mitsuru said, after a few minutes of naught but the waves breaking the silence, "where _did_ you hear that before? The _truth,"_ she emphasized, giving him a knowing look. "I know your fondness for metaphor and tall tales."

Arisato smiled. "It breaks up the tension, doesn't it?"

"I don't think Takeba agrees with you on that," she said dryly. "And I seem to remember you scare _Iori,_ sometimes."

"Well, yes, sometimes." He turned to look back to the ocean. "A true story, then. The truth behind what I told Yukari?" Arisato's face took on a distant look. "My first year in high school was at a school called North High, in Nishinomiya. You know that, of course. I… was in a very bad place at the start of that year. Bad enough that I wasn't sure life was worth living."

_That_ certainly didn't sound like the Arisato Mitsuru knew. Occasionally melancholy, apparently prone to PTSD episodes, yes; but suicidal depression? That didn't jive with the cheerfully sarcastic, perpetually inquisitive "Detective" Mitsuru had known for several months now.

"I was just going through the motions," he continued. "Had been for months by then. That lasted about a day into high school. That was when Tsu-chan found me."

"Tsu-chan?" Mitsuru repeated, tilting her head in inquiry. She couldn't remember him mentioning the name before… but then he never mentioned much _else_ about his past, either, did he?

"Tsuruya Haruka," Arisato clarified. "A junior at the time. My Senpai, though she usually insisted I not call her that… Anyway, first day of school, I was hanging out on the roof, eating lunch all by myself, when she appeared out of nowhere. We didn't exactly share a class, and as far as I knew we had no other connection, so even now I don't have a clue how I got her attention in the first place.

"However it was, though, she knew who I was, and seemed to have a pretty damned good idea of why I was being 'an antisocial jackass', as she put it later." He smiled at the memory. "What she said at the time was, 'You are not what you think you are. However it may have started, however responsible you may have been for setting it in motion, at the end you did the only thing you _could_ do. You screwed up, but you did everything you could to make it right.'"

"…Make what right?" Mitsuru asked softly.

She wasn't surprised to see him shake his head at that. "Sorry, Senpai. That one I'm not ready to talk about yet." Arisato shrugged, as though shaking off the ill memories before the mood got too dark. "It wasn't as simple as that, of course, but it did get me looking at the world again. When the clubs started recruiting new members, Tsu-chan turned up at my classroom at the end of the day and more or less press-ganged me into her 'Detective Club'. The rest, as they say, is-"

"Delinquency?" Mitsuru finished, raising an eyebrow. Crossing her arms, she gave Arisato a Look, of the kind that, at a higher intensity, scared even Akihiko into obedience. "I suppose that club is why you know how to get around places you shouldn't at school?"

"It was always for a good cause," Arisato protested. "On paper, we were the Detective Club, and the general idea was to help out the student body with the usual stuff; missing books, minor altercations, that kind of thing. Pretty dull, really… on paper. In practice, Tsu-chan called us the 'North High Irregulars' -a play on the Baker Street Irregulars," he explained as an aside. "And while most of what we did was pretty mundane, not all of it was." Arisato turned his gaze back out to sea. "You wondered, didn't you, why the Dark Hour never seemed to bother me?"

"I did," Mitsuru acknowledged, watching him closely. "We all did, actually."

In fact, that was one of the things that had been bothering her most about Arisato, all this time. His swordsmanship, his investigation skills, even his knowledge of areas a student should never have been near, all of those could be explained, however unusual the logic, with mundane reasons. Some history of simple delinquency could've accounted for most of it, at the very most a connection to organized crime.

The way he'd wandered into the dorm that first night in the middle of the Dark Hour, seemingly unperturbed, could not. No matter how accustomed someone might be to violence, Mitsuru simply could not understand someone being that calm about their first exposure to the Dark Hour, especially after he'd confirmed he hadn't even heard of it before.

"Actually, it scared the hell out of me at first," Arisato admitted now, prompting Mitsuru to blink in surprise. "I may have hid it well, but trust me, I was _not_ comfortable with people turning into coffins or water transmuting to blood. Scared or not, though, I knew I could handle it, because it wasn't the first time I'd been 'out of step' with reality."

"The 'Ship in a Bottle'?" she hazarded, remembering him mention it during the conversation that started the ball rolling on the revelations that had been finished tonight.

It was about that time that the world shifted around them, the moonlight turning yellow; as accustomed as they both were to it by now, though, about the only thing either of them really noticed about the Dark Hour was the sudden ocean of blood just a few meters away, and even that wasn't so different from "normal".

"That was one of the times," Arisato said in answer to her question; oddly, he appeared to be blushing. "Probably the most extreme. The first, though, was the 'Haunted Trainyard'. The Irregulars got a request from a classmate to look into a place that they had found 'spooky'. I didn't put any stock in it myself, but Tsu-chan did, and so we all went that night." He shivered. "That was where I first saw ghosts. Well, Apparitions, to hear Tsu-chan tell it, led by what she called, quite specifically, a 'Wraith'."

Normally, Mitsuru thought, this would be the point at which Iori or Takeba would tell him to shut up and stop scaring them with his "tall tales". She didn't bother, partly because it was interesting, mostly because she was pretty sure he meant every word, this time.

"Dangerous?" she asked, turning to give Arisato her full attention.

"Very, if you don't know what you're dealing with," he said, nodding. "Tsu-chan didn't seem very impressed, though. She told off the Wraith -I didn't really understand most of what they said to each other, but I got that Tsu-chan was annoyed- and then she conjured flame out of thin air, did _something_ to the sword I was carrying, and told me to help her exorcise the poor bastards."

Mitsuru felt a chill run down her spine. "…Your club president was a Persona user?" Theoretically, intellectually, she knew it was possible; from what she understood of the Kirijo Group's research, Persona had been a recorded phenomenon even before the Dark Hour came about, so Persona users occurring without Kirijo Group assistance were presumably possible. Even so…

Arisato, though, shook his head. "I don't think so. Tsu-chan tried to write it off afterwards as 'holy exorcisms of a shrine maiden', but…" He snorted. "Fang-tan resembles a shrine maiden about as much as I do a monk. So after I called her on that, she kind of laughed -she does that a lot- and said she was a witch."

_I don't know if that's more or less disturbing. Persona, I at least understand. The idea of other powers…_ "You believe that?"

"After everything that came after? Yes." Arisato crouched then, and began tracing a design in the sand. Mitsuru wasn't an expert, but to her it looked vaguely runic. "Like I said, most of what the Irregulars handled was normal enough, but some of it was pretty out there. I have, on one occasion prior to my arrival in Iwatodai, been out of step with normal reality."

"The 'Ship in a Bottle'," Mitsuru guessed.

"Right." He looked vaguely uncomfortable, now that the subject had come up, though she wasn't sure why. "It was this time last year, actually: for summer break, the club went on a trip to Okinawa. Various things happened, which eventually led to us finding ourselves on what was literally a full-sized sailing ship shrunk to fit into a bottle. Don't ask me why, I never learned much about what Tsukishima was after, just that he was experimenting with 'pocket realities'."

"Tsukishima?"

"Ryu Tsukishima. Whoever or whatever he was, he had abilities similar to Tsu-chan, and was using that ship as a contained testing environment." Arisato finished the design in the sand, and shrugged. "I was involved in dealing with Tsukishima's defenses, but Tsu-chan insisted on dealing with the man himself personally. Seemed to think that, first, his experiments were out of control, and second, that outside his personal specialty, he was pretty pathetic. Considering that, as nearly as I could tell later, she flattened him, I suppose she was right."

Well. That at least explained why Arisato seemed to take pretty much everything in stride. Mitsuru was pretty sure he was glossing over a lot about the incident, but from the way he tended to get uncomfortable whenever the subject came up, she was pretty sure it was more about personal embarrassment than some dark secret.

Still… "A witch," Mitsuru said, shaking her head. "And a literal ship in a bottle. Arisato, if I didn't know about things like Tartarus already, I'd honestly be inclined to think you were making all this up."

"Yes, because it's so much less plausible than an extra hour at the stroke of midnight, or a school transforming into a bizarre tower full of eldritch abominations." Arisato's tone was dry as dust; not that she could really blame him, when he put it that way. "If there's one thing I've learned since I started high school, Senpai, it's that there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy."

_Shakespeare. …Very nice._ "…Well," she said, after a moment's silence, "I suppose that would explain a lot." She shook her head. "It seems I should thank this 'Tsuruya'. For a lot of things."

Mitsuru didn't know what would've happened to SEES if Arisato hadn't joined when he did. Maybe none of the battles they'd fought since his arrival would've occurred at all; just as likely, though, they would've happened anyway, but without his knowledge, skill, and sheer determination, who knew how they would've gone.

…_How would Tanabata have gone, if it hadn't been _him_ in that room?_

She banished _that_ thought as quickly as she could, and turned away so that he wouldn't see her blush. _At any rate,_ she thought, forcefully ignoring the images that were coming to mind now, _if that senpai of his got him through whatever his PTSD is about, and showed him things that left him prepared for the Dark Hour, I'm grateful to her._

…_So why do I feel so strange when he talks about her?_

"I don't think I'd be very functional right now if she hadn't taken me under her wing," Arisato said now, oblivious to Mitsuru's internal battle. "She got me back on my feet emotionally, and prepared me for a world that I didn't even know existed. How to function when time is out of joint, and how to take care of myself."

_She sounds like she was just what he needed,_ Mitsuru thought, steadfastly ignoring the very faint pang in her chest. _No wonder he was able to talk Takeba through so well. …I wonder if having someone like that on hand would've helped me, back when…_

_Although,_ she thought, something else abruptly occurring to her, _if she was so important… why did he…?_

"Why did you switch schools?" Mitsuru asked him, frowning. "It sounds like you were happy there."

"I was," Arisato confirmed, looking back out to the blood-like sea. "But something just felt… missing. Tsu-chan helped me find myself again, but I needed something else to move forward. Something more than what I was getting at North High, even as strange as it got. I didn't know what, so I just followed my instincts… and came back to Port Island."

_Where he found the Dark Hour, and SEES. He was just what we needed, when we needed him… and he found…_

"Was it what you were looking for?" she asked aloud, watching closely for his reaction.

He didn't answer at first, visibly taking his time to think it over. Then, at length, he slowly nodded. "I'm still not sure quite what I'm looking for," Arisato said softly, "but it's… fulfilling. There's a mystery to be solved, battles that not just anyone can fight. There's still a piece missing, somehow, but I'm sure now that this is where I should be."

Mitsuru was strangely relieved by the assertion. Not she had expected him to up and leave any time soon, after all; they had a fairly good idea now of how to stop the Dark Hour, but by the most optimistic predictions that would still be several months from now. She had never thought him the type to suddenly cut and run. Even so, the direct statement was oddly reassuring.

Maybe it was just that this was the first time they'd ever really _talked._ They'd exchanged pleasantries and even the odd bit of small talk often enough, since Arisato had joined SEES, but almost always they spoke of either the Shadows or school. This was, Mitsuru thought, probably the first time they'd spoken seriously about anything more personal.

It felt… nice. She didn't often get much of a chance to talk to someone who was really on her level intellectually. She wasn't comfortable, really, talking like that with the other juniors at all, and Akihiko, for all that he was far from stupid, simply didn't have the kind of education she did. Not like Arisato, who quoted Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes off-hand.

Even the silence that they'd fallen into felt strangely comfortable, even in the middle of the Dark Hour.

_Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection…_

"…Arisato," Mitsuru said at length, half-turning to give him a sidelong look. "How do you feel about motorcycles?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

And now we have the _interesting_ half of what was the original Chapter X (originally scheduled for release on Saturday, but I finished it a bit quicker than I expected). I'm gratified that the "filler" chapter was as well-received as it has been, but I'll wager this one is at least a bit more interesting.

Either that, or that last scene completely got away from me and is way overdone. I have to admit, while I did very much enjoy writing the final scene, I'm feeling a bit uneasy about it. *shrug* I'll let you guys be the judges.

Not much else to say, except that of course Chapter XII won't be as quick as this one; after all, this was _supposed_ to be part of the previous chapter. Still, I don't intend to be slow with it, either, as I've got a lot of material I'm looking forward to in that one. Rest assured, my comrades, that Chapter XII: The Witch and the Warbot, while covering roughly the same events as the relevant portion of canon, will do so in a rather different manner from the game. I've had parts of it planned out almost since the beginning of the fic, and the rest I've been doing detailed plotting on for at least a month now.

…And now that I've suitably indulged in self-aggrandizement, I leave the chapter to the judgment of my peers. Till next time, comrades. -Solid


	12. Chapter XII: The Witch and the Warbot

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009, Early Morning

* * *

Twice now, awakening had come for no apparent reason. A vague stirring, a shadow of unease that should be foreign to an existence such as her. Those times, it had been sufficient to rouse her Papillon Heart, to disturb the full standby state she'd maintained for the past several years; yet not sufficient to bring her motor control or other higher functions online.

Now, suddenly, her slumber was broken. The imperative that had disturbed her before had become insistent, abrupt, urgent. The cause was… nearby.

Blue eyes, framed by blonde hair and a metallic headband, eased open with inhuman smoothness. Before them was the same maintenance chamber she remembered seeing before entering standby, a period her fully-reactivated onboard systems informed her now had lasted ten years. A chamber with metal walls, a row of computers banks and monitors on one side, a row of hanging monitors on the other.

In the center of the wall farthest from the entrance, the chair upon which she sat, monitor cables connecting her to the maintenance computers, a the bottom of a circular column hanging over her. A column she knew was prepared to come down and contain her on a moment's notice, if her masters felt the need.

…_I must evaluate the situation before I alert anyone that I am active,_ she thought, closing her eyes again. _My primary objective… what is my primary objective?_

Her systems were fully functional again, but her records were still spotty; evidently that wasn't an effect of incomplete activation, but rather the battle damage her fragmentary records indicated had occurred ten years before. The exact circumstances of her damage were unclear, and she could not find a record of why her priorities had been reordered.

A quick search of her databanks _did,_ at least, inform her of what her current "top priority" _was,_ even if no explanatory data were attached. A fragmentary vision of a boy with blue hair and gray eyes, and a vague imprint of his biometric data.

_My highest priority objective is to find this boy,_ she thought. Why, she did not know; it was not her place to know. She was a weapon. She needed only obey, to the best of her ability. _Searching Kirijo Group database now…_

She must be cautious. She did not know why, but she knew her actions would not be sanctioned by those running the laboratory within which she was currently housed. Covertly bypassing simple database security, however, was trivial for one such as her; though her algorithms and coding had become obsolete since her original activation, it seemed regular software upgrades had still occurred during the years she was on standby. Infiltrating the Cybernetics Research Laboratory database was swiftly accomplished.

_Match found. Arisato, Minato. Member of Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Further background data unavailable here. Last recorded location: Yakushima Island._

Here. Her primary objective was on the very same island as herself.

Within her core processing unit, protocols shifted and activated according to new parameters. Had the objective not been so close, much more research and calculation would have been required before she could act, requiring at minimum the acquisition of transportation. Odds of success would have been distressingly low.

As the situation stood, all she needed to do was exfiltrate the CRL, reconnoiter the island, and attach herself to the primary objective. At that point, she was sure, her masters would make no objection. After all, one of them must have assigned the objective in the first place.

Carefully disconnecting from the Lab's database, her eyes opened again, and with a near-silent whine of long-disused motors, she stood. Then, moving with deliberate haste, she began disconnecting physically from the maintenance systems.

Ignoring the sudden sound of alarms, the blonde "girl" dashed toward the maintenance chamber's entrance.

* * *

Daytime

* * *

There was something undeniably relaxing about a walk through an island forest, Mitsuru reflected. On Yakushima, there wasn't the background noise of city life, and this far down one of the trails, the only notable sound was the calling of birds, and the occasional rustle of their passage and the wind through the foliage.

Those same trees provided enough shade that it was pleasantly warm, instead of intolerably hot. Just an overall peaceful atmosphere, really-which was probably just what the psychiatrist ordered right this minute, for the members of SEES.

The previous day had been of… mixed results, Mitsuru thought. On the one hand, they'd proven that, under more voluntary conditions, she and Arisato could stand to see each other in a less professional light; their conversation in the evening had more or less cemented that, and in the back of her mind she was looking forward to the opportunity to talk with him some more. On the other hand, there was Takeba.

Arisato's talk with her had obviously helped Takeba a great deal, but it wasn't perfect. That _had_ been a shattering revelation, one that even Mitsuru hadn't known about; whatever good Arisato's arguments had done, it wasn't the kind of thing she was going to completely recover from overnight, especially since not so much time had passed since Mitsuru's original revelations about the origin of the Dark Hour in the first place.

So when she'd suggested that the two of them, and Yamagishi, take a break from the beach today to visit Yakushima's Jomon Cedar tree, the idea had been accepted immediately, yet not without some tension. So far, as pleasant as the walk had been, it had mostly been in silence.

_Takeba doesn't seem to be blaming me as directly as she used to, though,_ Mitsuru mused, looking sidelong at her kohai. _I suppose last night was the first time she was really exposed to the Kirijo Group beyond just me; that probably has something to do with it._

_I only hope we can all pull through this together. Father's right, we _do_ need to learn to trust each other more. …_I_ need to learn to trust them more._

Yamagishi seemed only slightly subdued, which didn't really surprise her. From what Mitsuru could tell, the tech-savvy girl was extremely sensitive to the mood around her, but once away from her overbearing parents she didn't seem to have any particular issues of her own. She thought _something_ had been bothering Yamagishi for a week or so, but whatever it was apparently wasn't directly connected to the situation at hand.

"It's so nice to be out in the fresh air," Yamagishi said at length, as they made their way down the forest path. "I forgot how refreshing a nice walk in the woods is… You can't do anything like this back in Iwatodai."

Mitsuru nodded absently, vaguely noticing that Takeba didn't even appear to hear the comment. _Yes, Iwatodai doesn't have much in the way of greenery… and of course Port Island is an artificial construct to begin with…_

Yamagishi bit her lip, noticing the general lack of reaction. "Y'know," she tried again, a few steps farther down the path, "it's probably just as well we can out here by ourselves." She managed a weak chuckle. "The way Junpei-kun was behaving yesterday… I don't know about you guys, but I didn't really know how to react to that! I just hope Minato-kun and Akihiko-senpai can keep him under control."

_Arisato, possibly,_ Mitsuru thought clinically. _It's more obvious than ever that he knows how to behave himself, and if anyone can put a leash on Iori, it'd be him. Akihiko? I don't think Akihiko has the slightest idea how to deal with anything like that. The best he can manage with his own fan girls is ignoring them, after all._

The reference to Iori and his lecherous behavior the previous day finally seemed to get Takeba's attention. "Huh?" she said, blinking. "Oh… yeah, I get what you mean. Junpei was being even creepier than usual, at that…"

Before the conversation, tentative as it was, could go any further, Mitsuru's phone rang. _Who could that be?_ she wondered, pulling it out. "This is Mitsuru speaking," she said.

"_Uh, hi, Mitsuru,"_ came Ikutsuki's voice. He sounded… kind of sheepish, she thought. _"We, um… have a slight problem."_

A problem? On Yakushima? Eyes narrowing in confusion, Mitsuru switched her cell to speaker, and held it out so that her companions could hear. "Go ahead, Mister Chairman. What's the situation?"

"_Well,"_ he began, _"you know there's a Kirijo Group lab her on the island, right?"_

Mitsuru pursed her lips in thought. "I do seem to remember that the Cybernetics Division has a facility here, yes. What's happened?"

"_Er… It seems a machine that was previously thought to be disabled has activated independently. In fact, it's left the lab entirely."_

"A machine?" Takeba exchanged a bewildered look with Mitsuru, to which the senior had no reply. What kind of machine could simply get up and leave entirely on its own? She hadn't been aware of any drone research…

"What kind of machine is it?" Yamagishi, thankfully, seemed to be on the ball, probably because of her own mechanical inclinations. "I'll need some specifics if I'm going to be looking for anything other than Shadows with Lucia."

_Interesting… I _thought_ she could do more than just find Shadows and communicate telepathically, but I wasn't sure. …Someday, all of us need to sit down and explain what we're all capable of. It's not even distrust, I think, just simple lack of familiarity…_

"_It's a combat vehicle,"_ Ikutsuki told Yamagishi. _"An old anti-Shadow weapon, more specifically. It was badly damaged during the Incident ten years ago, and repairs never quite seemed to get it operational again. Apparently, something's changed."_

"A combat vehicle… Like what, a tank?!" Takeba blurted. She'd gone from withdrawn and moody to startled and a little pale; Mitsuru couldn't decide if that was an improvement or not. "Are you _kidding_ me?!"

_That could be a problem. With the possible exception of Arisato, none of us have experience fighting anything besides Shadows; at the least, this isn't something we should be taking on piecemeal. We should gather the entire team for this._

"The group is split up at the moment," Mitsuru reported. "It may take us a little time to meet up."

"…_Understood. Still, try to expedite, Mitsuru; we need to deal with this as soon as possible. I'm already on my way, too."_

She nodded. "If we're unable to capture the target, do we have permission to destroy it?" Presumably, any machine capable of engaging Shadows on even terms was _not_ the sort of thing you wanted getting loose and potentially hurting innocent bystanders. Whatever this "anti-Shadow weapon" was, it undoubtedly represented a significant expense on the part of the Kirijo Group, but the monetary loss was minor compared to possible collateral damage.

To her surprise, Ikutsuki actually laughed, if a bit nervously. _"Oh, I don't really think you'll be able to destroy it, Mitsuru."_

Yamagishi stared. "Then what _are_ we supposed to do about it?" she wondered aloud; about as close as she ever got to making a plaintive demand, Mitsuru thought.

Valid question, too. Just what _was_ this thing they were supposed to "capture", anyway?

"_I think you'll understand better when you see it, Fuuka,"_ the Chairman assured her. _"I'll see you all soon."_ With a click, he hung up.

At the same time, Takeba was checking her own phone-without much success, to judge from the look of disgust on her face. "All the times," she groused. "Would you believe _none_ of the guys are actually picking up the phone?"

_That's not like Arisato. Whatever scheme Iori might've roped Akihiko into, Arisato is more responsible than that._ Mitsuru grimaced. _Unless, of course, he just _forgot_ his phone today. Let's remember he's _not_ a superhero, shall we?_

"There's only so much trouble even they can get in on Yakushima," she said aloud, tucking away her phone. "We can meet up with them later. For now, let's go back to the house and get our weapons; then we can have Yamagishi scan the area." She grimaced. "It _is_ a large area, unfortunately. This could take some time."

"Ugh!" Takeba's fist clenched, earlier depression long forgotten. "Dammit, where could they be?! Now, of all times?!"

Mitsuru turned back the way they'd come along the trail, and began the leading the way back. Inwardly, though, she couldn't completely disagree with her junior. Maybe she was just too used to the field leader being on top of things, but it just seemed strange for him to be out of contact right when the whole team was needed.

_He did seem kind of nervous about today, though,_ she recalled. _I wonder why?_

* * *

"I do _not_ believe this," Junpei complained, staring down at the note that had been left by the spot they'd congregated at the previous day. "'We've gone to see the Jomon Cedar Tree.' _Seriously?!"_

"I don't think it's a joke, if that's what you're suggesting," Akihiko said dryly. "I'm pretty sure that's Fuuka's handwriting, and since they're obviously not _here…"_

"But… but…" Junpei sputtered, seeming to have trouble coming up with a coherent sentence. Or maybe just unable to believe that the note really _could_ mean exactly what it said. "But we're at the beach!" he howled. "In the middle of _summer!_ An _island resort,_ dammit! How can they _not_ be at the beach?! That's _heresy!"_

"Seems to me they've got good reason to avoid it." Minato casually dropped into the beach chair his Senpai had used the day before, and stretched out comfortably. "Now… whose fault was it, again, for things going south yesterday?"

As before, he was covering up his scars with a shirt, and warding off the sun with blue-tinted glasses. Today, though, he'd also brought a book, having kind of suspected that there wasn't going to be much intelligent conversation available at the beach this time. As far as he was concerned, certain behaviors the previous day had but one logical outcome.

Junpei glared at him, not quite dense enough to miss the implication. "Oh, c'mon, Minato," he whined. "I was just tryin' to lighten the mood!" He turned back to the boxer. "You got the point, didn't ya, Senpai?"

Akihiko grimaced, looking away. "I don't want to talk about it, Junpei."

"Feh! Wimps." Junpei tossed the note back on the small table he'd found it on in the first place, and sniffed. "Well, whatever, man! _Our_ girls may not be here, but that's not gonna keep me down. We've suffered a setback, but this battle isn't over yet! If you're running low on ammo, you find more on the battlefield itself!"

…_Battlefield? Why do I _not_ like the sound of Junpei calling a beach a battlefield?_

_**Perhaps he's mistaken this place for Iwo Jima, Master?**_

_I was thinking Normandy, but that's probably more relevant, yeah._

Minato wasn't alone in giving Junpei an uneasy look. "…Ammo?" Akihiko repeated warily. "Battle? …Do we even want to know what you're talking about, Junpei?"

Junpei threw back his shoulders, chest out. "Basic military tactics, Akihiko-senpai!" he declared. "And we'll call this 'Operation Babe Hunt'!"

The boxer stared at him. "…'Babe Hunt'? As in, picking up girls…?"

The goateed one grinned. "Of course! Whaddya think, guys? With Akihiko-senpai on our squad, we've got it made!"

Minato was forced to agree with him on _that_ point. At least, up to a point. Attracting attention in the first place, he figured, would indeed be easy enough with Gekkokan's champion boxer; he did that all the time not only without meaning to, but very much without _wanting_ to. Making _use_ of that attention… that was iffier.

One thing he'd learned from seeing his comrade interact with Yukari: if there was a way to put his foot in his mouth talking to a girl, Junpei Iori _would_ find it.

He didn't especially like the way Junpei was looking at _him_ now. "Yep, we've got it made," Junpei said again, grinning. "And _you,_ 'Leader', could do with giving it a shot, too! You may not wanna be a 'magnet', but you can't deny you'd be better off with a _little_ companionship now and then!"

Akihiko flinched, obviously expecting an explosion. Instead, though, Minato simply rolled his eyes and picked up his book. "Go and have your 'fun', Junpei. Me, I'm not interested in window-shopping."

"Window-shopping…? Come _on,_ Minato! You can't seriously-"

"Let me put it this way, Junpei," Minato said, not looking up from the book. "You called this an 'Operation', right?"

Junpei's grin shrank a little. "…Yeah…?"

"Fine. I'm field leader, right? One of the first rules of leadership is knowing how to delegate." Minato did glance up now, a very faint smile on his face. "Akihiko-senpai, I'm delegating command of this operation to you. My own presence would be overkill, so I'll settle for getting your report when the operation is complete."

"_Overkill?!"_ Junpei repeated, outraged.

Akihiko stared at Minato. Stared hard enough that if looks could kill, the swordsman would've been struck by a thunderstorm's worth of lightning. "I'm going to get you for this, Minato," he whispered. "I am _so_ going to get you for this…" He ground his teeth, then sighed. "…Fine, then. Let's go, Junpei."

The Man in the Hat turned his own glare on both,, before huffing an annoyed sigh of his own. "Tch! Well, Minato, you'd better not come cryin' to us when you see what we've hooked!"

_I give it a one-in-three chance that Junpei is murdered by the end of the afternoon,_ Minato thought complacently, as the two departed. _I'm not prepared to speculate if it'll be by a girl or by Akihiko-senpai, though. Could go either way._

He wondered idly if Junpei's confidence was bravado, or if he really did think he was going to successfully pull off the ladies' man act. According to everything Minato had heard in the months he'd been in Port Island, "Junpei" and "date" had never been used in the same sentence, let alone "steady girlfriend". In fact, as far as he knew, Junpei had never even made any real attempt, so he was slightly confused at how enthusiastically the goateed one spoke of the subject.

Then there was Akihiko. No difficulty in attracting a small legion of fan girls, for that one. At the same time, the Boxing Team captain had apparently never once expressed any interest in any of his fans, and Minato's analysis of his basic personality left him honestly wondering if Akihiko really had the least idea how to go about wooing a girl.

For himself? Minato didn't think of himself as being a ladies' man, either. He wasn't blind to the fact that he had a few admirers of his own, and he was even willing to admit -in select company, anyway- that Yuko, at the least, would probably jump at the chance if he asked her out. For that matter, he wasn't exactly inexperienced, in any relevant sense of the word.

Despite that, "cruising for chicks" wasn't something he expected he'd be very good at, even if he wanted to try. More to the point, he _didn't._ Even if he was actively looking for a girlfriend just then, he'd never liked the idea of going out _looking_ for one. As far as Minato was concerned, that was something that more naturally evolved from an established friendship, first. After all, that was how it had happened for him, both with Saya, and with…

Minato was sufficiently engrossed in both his thoughts and the Sherlock Holmes collection he was reading that he wasn't at first aware that he wasn't alone anymore. The beach umbrella provided enough shade on its own that he didn't notice any particular change in lighting, either, and he managed not to even hear anything.

Anything, at least, prior to a very distinctive laugh. Not as loud as he'd sometimes heard it in the past, but far from quiet, either; and just abrupt enough to make him twitch noticeably in his chair, as the laugh's owner no doubt intended.

"Ah, Minato-kun! You _still_ don't handle it well when someone really does manage to sneak up on you, do ya?"

Minato recovered his poise and firmly ordered his circulatory system to resume pumping blood instead of adrenaline. Then, with deliberate care, he closed his book and set it to one side, before finally looking up at the intruder into his few moments of peace.

A very attractive intruder, he couldn't deny. The green two-piece she wore was clearly designed to emphasize the fact, showing off more skin than any of SEES' girls. Coupled with a face he could still draw from memory, with her distinctive fang protruding from one side of her mouth, the striking golden eyes, and ridiculously long green hair, there were certainly worse "intruders", and Minato was sure that Junpei would be a blathering, stuttering idiot about now, were he present.

Minato was used to it. He'd seen the girl in less, after all, and dealt with her idea of a friendly greeting often enough. Not to say he was completely unaffected, but he had long since learned to compensate for it.

"I see you still laugh like a hyena, Tsu-chan," he said smoothly, smiling despite himself. "But then, you wouldn't be 'you' otherwise, would you?"

"Nope!" Tsuruya grinned, and flopped into the chair she'd somehow managed to drag up beside his without him noticing. "Sorry I couldn't make it here yesterday, Minato-kun, but things happened, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah," he said dryly, "I know. Probably just as well, though. Yesterday got… complicated."

"Complicated?" Tsuruya raised an eyebrow. "Gots trouble in the team, Minato-kun?"

_Perceptive as always. But then, she wasn't president of the Irregulars for nothing._ "A few things we didn't know about got aired last night," he acknowledged, leaning back in his chair. "It's… kind of a long story."

"Kinda got that from your phone call the other day." Tsuruya brushed her hair out of her face, and gave him an unusually serious look. Well. Serious for _her,_ anyway. "Sounded to me like we got lots to talk about, Silver-kun. Wanna start?"

Minato still didn't know why she called him that sometimes. The best guess he'd ever been able to come up with was that it had something to do with his distinctive gray eyes, but the one time he'd said so, she'd laughed and told him that was only part of it.

There was also the small matter that it played off his actual name, but as far as he knew she didn't even _know_ that.

_And Senpai thinks _I_ keep a lot of secrets. Ha. I _learned_ that from this girl._

"Okay," he said aloud, nodding. "I will. You said you know about 'Persona'. Are we on the same page, or are you thinking more Jung than I am?"

"Persona," Tsuruya repeated slowly, much of her typical humor fading. "My side of things can't quite decide if it falls into our style at all; the closest we can come to classifying it within our rules is as a kind of psychic phenomenon. It's too personal, too instinctive, to be what we'd call 'magecraft'."

Like Minato's own snark and metaphor, his old senpai tended to conceal her true thoughts and feelings behind humor. Most people probably only heard her be serious once in a blue moon; he knew full well that when the laughter stopped, she meant exactly what she said.

_And after everything we went through together, that's the first time I've heard her use the term 'magecraft'. That would seem to confirm the link with Edogawa…_

"So you're not a Persona user yourself, then," Minato prodded, watching her closely.

"Nope," Tsu-chan confirmed, shaking her head. "I've known a few, but the Association doesn't bother much with them, and they don't have much to do with us. Normally Persona users don't even know about our side of things, but you're… kind of a special case, Silver-kun." She gave him a narrow-eyed, shrewd look. "Let me guess. Your 'school club' is _all_ Persona users, right?"

He debated for a moment how much to tell her, before deciding she was probably safe enough. Anyone who was involved with the kind of things Tsuruya was wasn't likely to blab about it.

"That's right," Minato said finally. "Six of us so far. Mitsuru-senpai is the nominal Club President, but circumstances ended up putting me in field command."

She grinned. "Yep, I figured that might be how it worked!" At his lifted eyebrow, she explained, "I dunno much about Persona myself, but I know _you,_ Minato-kun. I knew from the day we met what kind of power you've got. I don't know how that relates to Persona specifically, but I'd be willing to bet you're stronger than your fellows."

"…You could say that." His eyes narrowed, and, after a moment's deliberation, he decided to broach a subject he hadn't mentioned even to his teammates. "Tsu-chan… have you ever heard of the term 'Wild Card'?"

"Outside of card games?" Tsuruya laughed, then sobered. "Rumors only. Like I said, the Association doesn't deal much with Persona. I checked after you called me last, and we don't know much, except that 'Wild Cards' usually don't get mixed up in the small stuff."

_There's been more than one like me, and from the sound of it _definitely_ more Persona users than Senpai had suggested. That's… interesting. And that's the second time she's mentioned an "Association". She never said a word about that when I was with the Irregulars; though now that I think about it, she did indicate there were others like her._ A mental snort. _Well, duh. Tsukishima didn't exactly appear out of thin air, did he?_

Tsuruya was watching him closely, as if following his train of thought. Which, knowing her, wasn't completely out of the question; Minato still didn't know what the extent of her power was, still didn't have the least idea of its nature.

"Well," she said, sitting up and leaning toward him -a motion which did interesting things in the vicinity of her chest, which he tried valiantly to ignore- with a small smile, "I think we really do have a lot to talk about, Silver-kun. So how about you tell me what you've been up to this year, and then I see what I can tell you that I couldn't before. Fair?"

"…Fair enough, Fang-tan." _Technically, I should probably ask Senpai before I do this, but I think, under the circumstances, I can trust my own judgment on this one. Who's she going to tell, her fellow witches?_

_More selfishly, it'll be nice to talk to somebody about this who _isn't_ directly involved._

A thought struck him, and Minato smiled faintly. "Okay, then, Fang-tan," he began, sitting up. "Would you believe me if I were to say that a day consists of more than twenty-four hours…?"

* * *

In an office with the blinds drawn against the midday sun, a man in an impeccably-tailored suit and an eyepatch sat before an expensive oak desk. In one hand he held a cigarette; in the other, a telephone, just now reaching to make a call he supposed he might've made some time ago.

_Might,_ Takeharu Kirijo thought to himself, as the phone on the other end began to ring. _But I suppose I wanted firsthand observations first. To confirm with my own eye what the "background check" and Mitsuru's reports suggested._

Things were, more or less, as Kirijo had expected. Well. Perhaps more than less, really. When he'd seen the data on the new SEES candidate, back in April, he'd known exactly who and what he was dealing with, and the implications had intrigued him. He had quietly excised any information surplus to the obvious cover story, and waited with interest to see whether the youth would live up to his pedigree.

The actual results, if Mitsuru's reports were to be believed, were far in excess of what Kirijo had anticipated, to a degree he'd frankly found himself skeptical of. Until, that was, he'd seen the young man with his own eye, and observed for himself the keen brain hidden behind the laconic expression.

With a click, the connection picked up, and the voice of an older man came through. _"Yes, Shirogane. Is that you, Takeharu?"_

"As if you aren't perfectly well aware of the fact, Johei," Kirijo returned, leaning back in his chair. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he continued, "I understand you're on a case in Kyoto? How is that going?"

"_Just wrapping it up, actually. A little convoluted, but in the end Naoto found the crucial evidence."_ Johei chuckled. _"I'm not sure whether to be more embarrassed that I didn't see it myself, or proud that she managed to find it from so far away."_

"I would say proud," Kirijo told him. "Not that you should expect any less, if your granddaughter is anything like your grand_son."_

"_Ah…"_ He could almost hear the older man nodding on the other end. _"Yes, I rather thought I'd be getting this call soon. I trust Kyousuke has been living up to his parents' legacy, now that he, too, has been roped into the affair?"_

"He is," Mitsuru's father confirmed gravely. "Although I think living up to _your_ legacy would be more accurate, Johei. Were you aware that he, too, had the potential?"

"_Since shortly after the Incident, yes."_ Johei didn't bother to prevaricate. His ties to Kirijo were, if anything, older than his grandson's. The active ones, anyway. _"I always thought it was something of a shame, really. Before that night, he showed considerable promise following in his father's footsteps, but afterwards… something changed. His talents shifted sharply toward the Kuzunoha side of the family tradition, away from our other specialty."_

Kirijo was, as ever, curious about what Johei meant by that comment, but let it pass. He doubted he'd fully grasp any explanation, anyway, if past experience was any guide. "You should give him more credit, Johei. Whatever other 'talent' he may have lost, as a Persona user, he is proving to be quite exceptional. The strongest we've ever seen, in fact."

That was no lie, and no small compliment. It had been over twenty years since the Kirijo Group became aware of Shadows, years before Kouetsu Kirijo ever began his experiments, and in that time they'd studied Persona almost as much as they had Shadow. Especially once they'd discovered that the concept of a controlled Persona wasn't exactly new.

Kirijo was not proud of much of that research. Even now, fewer than a dozen "natural" Persona users were known to the Group, and the experiments into "induced" Personas were something he himself had ordered shut down the moment he became aware of them. Nevertheless, considerable data existed, and "Minato Arisato" broke all the records, and several of the rules.

"_I always knew he was strong,"_ Johei mused. _"Our family's inheritance is erratic, at best, but his circuits were both numerous and powerful, fully up to the standards of a line as old as ours, before the Incident… changed him. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised it translated into great strength with Persona. …I suppose I should look into it personally, when I have the chance."_

"You would be better able to tell than we are," Kirijo conceded, nodding. "We may have quantified it, but we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as far as we have in developing their powers without your input, back then."

"_I couldn't exactly stand by and watch."_ Johei's tone was dust-dry. _"I haven't gone through as many world-threatening crises as I have without learning to judge when to intervene, as well as when to stand back. So,"_ he continued, _"Kyousuke _is_ working out as a member of your team, then?"_

"I have no reservations," Kirijo assured him, "save perhaps a certain degree of recklessness on his part. Something which, I admit, is mitigated by the fact that he tends to get results. Would you believe that in his first major operation with SEES he went so far as to fight atop a moving monorail train?"

He himself had looked askance at _that_ report. Even if Arisato's hand had been forced, it still seemed like a reckless tactic. It _had_ worked out, though, and similar stunts of his seemed to show it wasn't quite so much lack of sense as having a keen appreciation for what Persona allowed him to do.

Audacious, yes. Bolder than Kirijo was comfortable with, even with the results the youth consistently achieved. But not quite foolhardy.

Johei chuckled again. _"Is that so? Hm… Our family always _has_ been blessed with strong Instinct. Perhaps…"_ He trailed off. _"Any other oddities I should be aware of?"_

"A few peculiarities of his Persona abilities, which I suspect you are in a better position to evaluate than we are. I'll send you the reports on that later." Kirijo closed his remaining eye, thinking over the reports he'd seen of SEES' recent operations. "Oh, yes… There _is_ one thing we can't quite seem to attribute to Persona. Your grandson seems to have developed the ability to 'analyze' objects at a glance. It appears to be of little use against Shadows, but it did apparently prove helpful during a recent operation. Do you have any insight on that?"

The older man was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, _"I see… That's very interesting news, actually, Takeharu. Is there any physical sign associated with it?"_

"According to Mitsuru's reports, his eyes 'glow silver'," Kirijo answered, eye opening very narrowly. "I take it that means something to you."

"_Indeed… The Mystic Eyes. It sounds as if Kyousuke does, after all, still have some touch of the family's Sorcery Trait."_ Johei's voice was very slow, and very thoughtful. _"I knew Tsuruya believed there was still something there, but I couldn't quite bring myself to hope. Perhaps Kyousuke still has the capacity to inherit the title of 'Silver' after all."_

"…And, as usual, half of what you say makes no sense to me whatsoever."

Despite his mild exasperation, Kirijo wasn't exactly surprised. Old man Johei had done more to advance the Kirijo Group's understanding of Persona than ten years of study, yet every now and again he wandered off into topics that the Group had no knowledge of. It seemed as if Johei's family line had ties to a side of the world even Takeharu Kirijo knew nothing of, and generally suspected he was better off staying away from.

"_Well,"_ Johei said after a moment, _"I suppose it doesn't really matter at present. Unless and until more of the family traits begin to express themselves, Kyousuke's primary import here is as a Persona user. And you're satisfied on that front?"_

"I did say I had no real reservations," Kirijo reminded him dryly. "In point of fact, I completely endorse my daughter's decision to retain Arisato as field commander. He has the intelligence, as well as the power, and despite a few personality clashes he seems to mesh well with the team as a whole." His lips twitched in a faint, very rare smile. "Indeed, he appears to be working quite well with Mitsuru, especially lately."

"_Is that so? …I take it you don't take that amiss, Takeharu."_

"Not at all," he said firmly, taking a drag from his cigarette again. "Mitsuru's friendship with Akihiko Sanada aside, she's been closed off entirely too long. I don't expect her to suddenly become an extrovert, but there is a reason our family motto is 'Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection'. Whether she retains Arisato simply as a friend, or somehow becomes more than that, I believe nothing but good can come of their becoming closer."

"_I can't disagree,"_ Johei mused. _"I can't speak to your daughter's side of things, of course, but Kyousuke… The Tsuruya girl did much to heal him after what happened to the Kisaragi family, but his wounds still run deep."_ His voice turned grimmer, just for a moment. _"My grandson needs all the help he can get, with things progressing as they are on 'our' side of things. Nothing would please me more, right now, than for him to find someone he can trust with everything. And as close as he is to Naoto, I believe he and I would both rather keep her out of… certain aspects of family tradition."_

"I'll take your word for that last. I believe I'm better off not knowing, either." Kirijo stubbed out his cigarette in the ash tray on his desk, and contemplated lighting another. "I take it, then, that you have no qualms about present arrangements either?"

"_None. Dangerous it may be, to be sure, but Kyousuke isn't exactly a stranger to that, and it's not likely to be the last time he faces something on this order. Just… keep me informed, will you? A grandfather worries, you know."_

"Naturally. As I said, I'll send you Mitsuru's reports this afternoon." Kirijo nodded to himself. "Always a pleasure, Johei."

* * *

"Well, well," Tsuruya murmured, when Minato had finished summarizing the events thus far of his junior year of high school. "You sure _have_ been busy, Minato-kun! No wonder you look sleepy!"

_I look sleepy? …Never mind. I know better than to try to guess her mind._

_**You sure don't need to guess the **_**rest**_** of her, Master! Not with that little-**_

_I'm perfectly well aware of what she looks like without a swimsuit, Pixie, and now is _not_ the time to be reliving that particular incident, thank you._

_**I thought it was more than one ti-**_

_**Shut **_**up,**_** Fae harlot!**_

"Yes," Minato said, once his Personas had settled down again. "'Busy' describes this year pretty well, actually." He took a quick look out at the surrounding beach, mildly curious as to how much "fun" Junpei and Akihiko were having about then. "Got any insights, Fang-tan?"

The fang in question worried at the edge of Tsuruya's lip for a few moments. "Not much I can tell you about your own adventures, I thinks," she said slowly. "I'd heard a couple rumors about a 'hidden hour', so I guess some of my 'colleagues' can enter it, but I'm not one of them. Far as I know, there aren't any Persona users in the Association at all, so I can't help you there."

He nodded. "Pretty much what I expected," he said. "That's all right. We seem to be muddling our way through well enough on our own." Minato adjusted his shades, and tilted his head. "What about Edogawa? Like I said, some of what he says is remarkably close to how _you_ talk, Tsu-chan. On the rare occasions you stop laughing, anyway."

Tsuruya favored him with a lopsided grin, her fang becoming more evident than usual. "Edogawa I know, at least by reputation," she admitted. "Kind of a weirdo even by _our_ standards. He's been with the Association _and_ Atlas, at one time or another; last I heard, he's freelance."

"So he _is_ 'in the know', then."

"Yep. Like I said, though, he's too weird even for the Association or the Alchemists."

Tsuruya hadn't said much during Minato's explanation of his strange year, aside from laughing uproariously over some of his antics -usually involving Junpei- and making a comment about what he was obviously trying not to say about Shirakawa Boulevard that made his face almost spontaneously combust. She'd looked very thoughtful at points, though, especially when he mentioned Edogawa and his own odder capabilities.

She was also speaking more freely than she ever had when he was in the North High Irregulars. She wasn't even trying to pretend that her abilities were "normal" anymore, nor that she was the only one. Minato still had little understanding of her references to an "Association", and "Atlas" completely baffled him, but it was still more candor than he was used to seeing out of her.

"Actually," Tsuruya mused, leaning back in her chair, "Edogawa could get in lots of trouble for this. We're really not s'possed to talk about that stuff in public; the Association gets kinda cranky." She grimaced. "That's half the reason I blasted Tsukishima. We keep things secret for a reason, and the way he was going, he was gonna slip up and drag Okinawa down with him."

Minato blinked. "That bad? You didn't seem too worried at the time."

"'Course I wasn't _worried,_ Minato-kun!" She laughed, loudly and without restraint. "He was dangerous 'cause he wasn't half as good as he thought he was. Shutting him down wasn't hard at all. Besides," she added with a grin, "the _rest_ of that little excursion was pretty… _fun,_ wouldn't you say?"

If she kept _that_ up, Minato was going to start steaming from the ears. It was all _true,_ sure, but the last thing he needed was one of his teammates overhearing it. Junpei, at the least, would _never_ let him live it down.

_And Yukari would either die of embarrassment, or kill_ me._ Akihiko-senpai would laugh his head off, Fuuka would faint, and Senpai…_ He shivered. _Senpai would either _also_ die of embarrassment, or "execute" me. I'm not sure which is worse._

Tsuruya saw the look on his face, and broke out into laughter again. "Oh, Minato-kun, you're _way_ too easy! For somebody who doesn't blink at taking on Wraiths and Apparitions, you're so easy to fluster. Do your friends know you're really a big softie?"

"My teammates know _absolutely nothing_ about my personal life last year," he told her, forcing his expression back to neutral. "I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much. Now, as to the topic at hand…?"

The laughter continued a few more moments, before her momentum finally ran out. "Okay, okay, if you're sure…" Tsuruya sobered. Well, as much as she ever did, when death wasn't on the line. "Edogawa. Right. He could get in a lot of trouble for what he's doing, but… You say you're the only one who takes him seriously?"

"Far as I can tell, I'm the only one who even pays much attention," Minato confirmed. "Junpei notices a bit, I guess, but he didn't even know what a chupacabra was, so I don't think you need to worry about _him_ understanding it."

"He'd probably be fine, too," she said thoughtfully. "You guys aren't really a threat to the secrecy of magecraft, seeing as you're all more or less considered psychics. And you, well… Yeah. If _you're_ the only one who gets what Edogawa is saying, nobody at the Association will bat an eye."

There it was again. The persistent hints that Tsuruya knew something about him that he didn't. From day one, on the roof of North High, Tsuruya Haruka had known things about him that, as far as he knew, _nobody_ outside his immediate family knew, and over that year had hinted at more. Usually expressed as if she were joking, but not always…

"Tsu-chan," he said, sitting up. "What _are_ you talking about? Really?"

She didn't pretend not to know what he was talking about. For all that Tsuruya played the ditz -hell, really _was_ something of a ditz, he was sure- there wasn't actually anything wrong with the brain hidden behind the hyena-like laughter. Far from it. "Minato-kun," she began, unwontedly serious, "there's a lot of things I still can't talk about. Well. Less 'can't', more 'probably shouldn't yet'. Murky waters, we're talking about."

Minato grimaced. _Why is this beginning to remind me of my chats with Igor and Elizabeth? …And if this _is_ similar, she's probably got a point. Dammit. I _hate_ the "you are not ready" speeches._

Tsuruya smiled sympathetically at his expression. "Don't feel _too_ bad, Minato-kun. The way things are going, you'll probably find out in a few months. This is _politics_ here, not 'you'll fry your brain'. Agreements between some very important people on our side of things. And yeah, by 'our' I mean you, too. If it makes you feel any better, it's got nothing to do with the 'Dark Hour' or 'Shadows', so it shouldn't trip you up right now."

"_That's_ reassuring."

"Hey, think about _this,_ Minato-kun: now _I _get to be paranoid about things _I_ can't fight." She laughed at his suddenly thoughtful face. "Yep! I bet I can take a Shadow easy, in a straight fight, but the way you tell it, I'd never see 'em coming. So how about you worry about your side, and I'll worry about 'ours', 'till you're ready to see the other side of the coin?"

_In other words, worry about today, let tomorrow worry about itself?_ A mental snort. _Well, I guess there's sense in that. If Tsu-chan thinks there's nothing in particular for me to worry about from "our" side just now, I'm not about to question her judgment._

"Fair enough," Minato said finally. "But one last thing, before we start talking about the weather or something: can you tell me anything about my eyes?"

"Ah. Those." Tsuruya nodded sagely. "Since you've awoken to those, I can tell ya that much, I guess. Sounds to me like you've inherited the Mystic Eyes of Analysis."

_Mystic Eyes?_ "Inherited?"

She grinned. "What, you think you're the first guy in your family to be a superhero-type? Long line there, Minato-kun, and that's just part of it. That's not Persona-based, either; the Mystic Eyes are close to a psychic ability, but still technically considered magecraft. Some kinds can be induced. The most powerful ones, though, are usually in-born, and yours are hereditary. Er, mostly. Your line has some problems with that… But anyway, that's part of what makes you the Silver."

"_The" Silver,_ he repeated silently. _I always thought there was more to it than my eyes, even if the idea of it being related to my name had some… problems._ He snorted mentally. _Of course, she did just finish telling me it's hereditary. Kind of a clue that she really _does_ know what my real name is._

"So there _is_ a reason you keep calling me that."

"Yep!" Tsuruya said cheerfully. "Nobody's ever been sure whether you'd ever actually live up to the title, but I always had faith in you, Silver-kun! The way you're going, a few more months and you'll really be something!" She laughed, long and loud. "Oh, I just hope I can see the faces of some of those old geezers when _your_ family steps up to the plate again!"

_Someday, I have _got_ to find out what the hell she's talking about. …Well, maybe it won't be long, if she's right about… whatever the hell she means about things "awakening" and being "inherited"._

"I'm glad you find it all so funny," Minato said, shaking his head. "I think my life was simpler _before_ you dragged me off to that train yard, though."

"Oh, _your_ life was _never_ simple, Minato-kun. You just didn't always notice." Tsuruya grinned again. "So! Now that we got the heavy stuff out of the way, tell me about your friends! I _really_ wanna know about that 'Senpai' of yours!"

…_I'm doomed._

_**Doomed? Oh, no, Master, just **_**think**_** of the potential! The two of them, in the same room, without-**_

_Shut up or I'm cutting my own throat, Pixie!_

_**Yes, **_**do**_** be silent, young one,**_ a mental voice Minato didn't immediately recognize purred. _**Lady Tsuruya is… no longer what our Master needs. His Senpai, on the other hand, you do have a point about… very much so. But do not, child, cheapen it with such crass… no, **_**unsophisticated**_** suggestions.**_

_And you would be…?_ Minato wondered, with some trepidation.

_**Why, Master, I am called the Leanansidhe. Let me guide you…**_

_Oh, crud,_ he thought, blood running cold. _I am _so_ doomed._

* * *

Junpei Iori had been through a number of humiliating experiences in his life. Actually a fair number of them, since entering high school. Any time exam results were posted, for example, and a couple of… pointed incidents during anti-Shadow operations.

Today, however, just about took the cake, and even ate it. Striking out miserably, almost sealing the deal only to find out he wasn't talking to _what_ he thought he was, getting very seriously hit on by what turned out to be a _teacher…_

He shuddered. _Damn,_ he thought, as he and Akihiko trudged back along the beach, _maybe Minato actually has something there. Is he psychic, or has he done this before? 'Cause damn if he didn't get the better end of the deal today._

Junpei wanted to tell himself that things would've been different if their "fearless leader" had actually accompanied them. After all, much as he'd like to, he couldn't deny that Minato had a way with the ladies, whether he chose to take advantage of it or not; surely if he'd been there, the suave, blue-haired swordsman would've worked _something_ out.

All true, certainly. _Problem is, he would've gotten _himself_ a date, and we'd _still_ be left out in the cold. …But, dammit, he coulda done _something_ to help us out, couldn't he?_

"Junpei," Akihiko said at length, the first time he'd spoken since their encounter with the Inaba school teacher, "you do realize that I'm going to make you pay for this?"

"Tch." Junpei wanted, desperately, to say something in denial. Unfortunately…

"This _was_ your idea," the boxer reminded him, turning a sour look on him. "We _could_ have just chilled for a while. If you wanted the girls here so badly, they were probably gonna show up eventually. But no…"

"Hey," Junpei snapped, shooting his senpai the best glare he could muster. "It may've been my idea, but you _did_ agree to it!"

"Only when Minato delegated it to me!" Akihiko shot back-then paused suddenly. "Only when…"

The Man in the Hat slowly grinned. "Hey… you're right. There _is_ something we can blame somebody else for!" The thought cheered him up immensely, and the look he exchanged with Akihiko this time was one that promised mutual vengeance against a certain "leader".

That thought kept Junpei warm and fuzzy for approximately two minutes. Right up until the moment the chair they'd last seen their "fearless leader" at came into view. That chair, and the one that had been pulled up next to it.

Both of them stopped, frozen on the spot. "What the hell…?" Akihiko muttered. "Wait, seriously. What the…?"

Minato Arisato wasn't alone. He was, in fact, looking very cheerful, chatting amiably with a green-haired girl, who was wearing something resembling scraps and had a figure that sent Junpei's adrenaline glands into overdrive.

He staggered forward a few steps, mouth working soundlessly. _Two hours we spent… two… hours… we struck out… And… and…_

The two on the beach chairs were just starting to realize they were no longer alone when Junpei's vocal cords finally overcame their paralysis. _"WHAT?!"_ he burst out, loud enough to startle a nearby flock of birds into flight.

A grimace flickered across Minato's face. "Well," he began, "I was starting to wonder-"

"I don't _believe _this!" Junpei shouted, overriding the other's comment. "You- You sent us out on a wild goose chase, and- and then you- you-!" His hands clenched into fists, the mightiest glare he could summon focusing right on Minato's eyes. "You _cheated,_ you sunnovabitch!"

Beside him, Akihiko was just starting to figure out something to say, but whatever it was, Junpei never knew. He was still staring in what he would only later realize was comical outrage when the green-haired girl started pointing at him, and burst out into the loudest, most uproarious fit of laughter he'd ever heard. It wasn't brief, either, and soon the girl was doubled over in her chair from the force of her own laughing.

Minato was in the middle of a face palm, and Junpei was beginning to turn purple, when the girl's laughter finally calmed enough for her to gasp out, "F-friends of yours, Minato-kun?"

"Unfortunately," he said, sighing. "Tsu-chan, the calmer one is Akihiko Sanada, a senior at Gekkokan and captain of the boxing team. The one who's turning purple and is about to suffer a catastrophic collapse of his jawbone structure due to hyperextension is Junpei Iori. Guys, this is Tsuruya Haruka, a senior from North High in Nishinomiya."

"Nice to meetcha!" the girl said cheerfully, finally recovering from her fit of laughter. "Minato-kun's told me all about you guys!"

Junpei finally managed to close his jaw, and managed -somehow- a polite nod to Tsuruya (something complicated by the lack of material used for her swimsuit). Then he turned the full force of his glare back on Minato. "You _cheated,"_ he hissed. "You let us go out there and make _idiots_ of ourselves, while _you_ went and picked up a chick all by yourself! That's _cowardly,_ that's _sneaky,_ that's-!"

"If I'm cheating, it's by getting a head start," Minato said dryly, rolling his eyes. "By about twelve months before I even met you. She's my ex-club president, Stupei."

Akihiko's eyes widened. "Oh," he breathed. "North High… Right." He looked sheepish, and Junpei's mouth shut with a click.

Then dropped back open at Tsuruya's next comment. "Don't forget ex-girlfriend!" she said cheerfully. "So don't feel bad, guys! Minato-kun's not cheating, just catching up!" She grinned, prominently displaying her fang. "Now, I guess it's true he got a lot farther with me than you guys probably would have today if you _had_ lucked out, but-"

Minato's face palm probably registered on the Richter scale. Certainly Junpei's incoherent yell should've flattened trees clear to the Jomon cedar. Probably _including_ the Jomon cedar.

* * *

Minato was prepared to forgive Tsu-chan a lot, based on past association. There was no doubt that he owed her a lot, and privately he was willing to concede he actually enjoyed her teasing to a large degree; if he didn't, he never would've survived dating her, even for a few months.

Cheerfully unleashing the worst-case scenario on him, though, was pushing it. And he had little doubt she'd done it on purpose. Tsuruya might play the role of the ditz, but she was also entirely capable of obliterating him on the spot, and had the brains to match. She knew _exactly_ what she was saying, what she was implying, and exactly what the effect was going to be. She'd have analyzed Junpei in a nanosecond-not that such an analysis was exactly difficult, given the extremity of Junpei's introduction.

_The worst part is, I can't even deny it. I'm not _that_ good of a liar. Not good enough to outweigh Tsu-chan's calculated "innocence", that's for damn sure._

Junpei's incoherent sputtering took a few minutes to wind down, Tsuruya laughing all the while at the havoc she'd unleashed. During that time, Minato tried valiantly to think of some way to placate the goateed one, without a great deal of success; all the remotely "viable" ideas he could think of involved violence. While temporarily satisfying, he was sure, the long-term consequences probably outweighed the short-term benefits.

The other _was_ finally starting to wind down -or at least run out of breath- when Akihiko, who'd spent the last few minutes alternately staring and shaking his head, suddenly turned his head toward the water. There was a pier not far away, probably meant for jet skis or similarly small watercraft, and something about it seemed to have gotten the boxer's attention.

"Uh, guys?" Akihiko called, loud enough to break into the last remnants of Junpei's incoherence. "You see that?"

Junpei whipped his head around to glare at the senior, probably annoyed at the interruption, but before he could try and get out a comprehensible sentence, he evidently spotted whatever Akihiko had. "Eh…? Hey… look at _that."_

Minato turned then himself, and his eyebrows rose fractionally.

Standing on the edge of the pier was a girl about his own age. She was facing away, so he couldn't see her face, but the blonde hair was easy to pick out, along with the odd metal headband she wore; curiously, for someone at the beach, she was covered by what looked like a cross between a nightgown and a sundress, in blue.

At first glance, a striking figure, and which momentarily gave him hope of distracting Junpei. Then Minato's gaze panned downward, and he saw her feet. Or, at least, what _should_ have been feet.

_What the hell?_ he thought, staring at what should've been feet, but more resembled table legs. _That's… not normal. Even by _my_ standards._

Bringing his gaze back up, he focused more intently, invoking his Eyes. Under the sight of glowing silver, the girl's image changed completely, revealing no trace of flesh and blood, of brain tissue or normal organs.

_Synthetic flesh-analogue,_ Minato thought clinically. _Wires, transistors… hydraulics… a CPU? And… what _is_ that?_

Something at the core of the "girl" defied categorization, even by his Eyes. Whatever it was, something inside him recognized it as being central to her, but he couldn't even begin to guess at its nature. The closest he could get was something akin to "soul", but that seemed to make absolutely no sense.

_One thing's clear, though: she's not human. She's…_

"Okay, then," Junpei said through gritted teeth, drawing Minato's attention back to him. "One last roll of the dice. Minato!"

He looked over at his teammate, wondering just what Junpei could possibly have in mind. He couldn't have seen what Minato had, of course, but a cursory look at the girl's "feet" should've at least-

"Minato," Junpei said again, staring at him with a wild expression, "this is your chance to make up for what you did to us. You see that girl?"

_Atone? The whole thing was _your_ idea, genius._ "…Yeah?"

"You're the ladies' man here, whether I like it or not. So!" Junpei pointed to the "girl". "You're gonna go over there, and suggest that you've got a friend who's too shy to make a move, but is just _great_ to talk to when the ice is broken. You got that?"

To Minato's surprise, Akihiko actually nodded at this. "Yeah," the boxer agreed, though his expression looked a tad saner than Junpei's. "You've been holding out on us, Detective, so consider this payback."

…_They've both lost their minds. And which of them, exactly, is expecting to get the girl they don't realize isn't a girl?_

When he turned his gaze toward Tsuruya, he saw that she was trying valiantly not to laugh; probably, he thought darkly, both at his comrades' antics, and a recognition of the same thing he'd noticed. "Go for it," she gasped out, starting to lose the battle against her own mirth. "I promise I won't be jealous, Silver-kun!"

_Way to pour fuel on the fire, Fang-tan. At least at first you specified _ex_-girlfriend. …What the hell. There's something strange going on here. That's far enough that they won't hear exactly what I say anyway, so I may as well check this out._

"Fine," Minato said, coming to his feet. "But don't expect this to go according to plan, guys. I think you're missing an important detail here."

"And _I_ think you're just trying to get out of this," Junpei hissed, glaring at him. "Get going, and make it good, 'Leader'!"

"Your funeral." _At least I'm wearing a shirt. Like _hell_ do I want to look like… that._

Making his way toward the pier, Minato wished idly that he was armed in some fashion, in case the "girl" turned out to be an evil robot from the future sent to assassinate him or something. As it was, he didn't have a sword or even his Evoker, and his hand-to-hand skills were more or less nonexistent. On the plus side, Tsuruya didn't _need_ weapons to burn something to cinders, but that might be small comfort in this situation.

_Look on the bright side. She might actually be a _good_ robot from the future, sent to protect me from the bad one._

_**Which still implies a gigantic Austrian wearing black leather is waiting to kill you somewhere **_**else,**_** Master. Or perhaps an evil motorcycle cop.**_

_**Oh, young Fae, I think the Master is amply covered on **_**that**_** angle. Senpai is sure to be more than skilled enough in **_**that**_** arena…**_

_I'm glad you all find this so amusing. Can the peanut gallery please shut up for a few minutes?_

Adding to Minato's trepidation, as he stepped onto the pier and neared its end, was a strange sense of déjà vu. Something about the sight of the girl, be it physically or the glimpse he'd gotten with his Eyes, stirred some kind of instinctive recollection in him. Not an image, or a sound, or even a smell, but a feeling; something he couldn't place.

_I've never run into a life-like robot in my life,_ he reminded himself. _It's got to be just the overall sense of unreality. I mean, who _does_ expect to run into a genuine Robot Girl? …Which manga is my life imitating today, anyway? Or is this another _Featherman_ episode?_

Strangely, the girl didn't seem to notice his approach until he was within a couple of meters. Up to that point, she was simply staring out to sea, head tracking back and forth as if looking for something. Then, just as he was getting close, she stirred, and turned to face him.

At a glance, if you could ignore the feet, the girl really did look like a normal teenager. The cloth running up from under her dress, covering her neck and part of her jaw before meeting the headband, was odd but not instantly eye-catching. Her ears being covered could be written off as headphones, much as Minato's own were often obscured.

Looking into her eyes, though, Minato could see the difference. They, too, were normal enough in appearance, but gazing into them wasn't like looking at a human's eyes. There was something… alien about that gaze. A sign that the soul behind them simply didn't _think_ the way he did it. It was subtle, impossible to define, but it was there.

He'd once before looked into eyes that were very visibly distinct from human, and what he'd seen that time had frightened him badly, but it had still been comprehensible, however terrible. The unblinking blue eyes looking at him now…

_It's almost like looking into cameras,_ he realized, as those blue eyes evaluated him. _Well, I guess that fits. She's not human, and it _does_ feel like I'm "scanned", not truly "looked at"._

After a long, long moment, the girl's lips parted. "You are…"

"…Hello," Minato said tentatively, offering a polite half-bow. "Is there something I can help you with, Miss?" _Real smooth,_ he snarked at himself. _That's as bad a pickup line as it is a greeting to a robot who may be out to kill you._

Now he was _sure_ he was being scanned, more or less literally. The way the girl's gaze went up and down his body might've been tacky or flattering, depending on the circumstances, from anyone else, but from the "girl" it was very obviously a physical examination, like a machine comparing an image to its records.

That was, he thought, even more disturbing.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but stiffened suddenly, seeing something over Minato's shoulder. "This is not an ideal location," she said, apparently to herself. "I will evaluate the data elsewhere. Initiating evasion protocols."

At that, she broke into a run, arms stretched behind her, and dashed past Minato. Her flight carried her clear past a startled Junpei and Akihiko, as well, and continued on to the path leading into the forest above the beach.

When Minato got back off the pier himself, he was confronted by angry, worried stares from his comrades. "What the _hell_ did you say to her, Minato?!" Junpei demanded.

"Yeah," Akihiko agreed, looking extremely uneasy. "Dammit, Detective, what did you _do?"_

"I said hello," Minato replied, shrugging. "I _told_ you that wasn't going to work out the way you guys thought it would."

"Forget what we 'expected'!" Junpei snapped, grabbing the swordsman's shoulders. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you might've just caused?! You gotta go after her and apologize, dammit, before anything happens!"

Minato shrugged off the grip, taking a quick step back. "Oh, I'll follow her, all right. Because _I_ want to know what the hell is going on." He gestured for them to follow, and took off at a brisk jog. "But I don't think I need to 'apologize' for anything. Did either of you geniuses bother to look at her _feet_?"

"Who cares about her feet?! That's not important-"

"She's a _robot,_ you idiot," Minato snapped, irritated. Pounding up the path, he snorted at Junpei's disbelieving look. "If you'd bothered to _look,_ you'd have noticed she's got table legs for feet."

Well. The sputtering gasp from behind proved at least one thing to his satisfaction: even Tsuruya couldn't quite manage to laugh while running.

_At least there's _something_ that can shut up that hyena. …Now, why did I pick _today_ of all days to forget my damn phone? I think Senpai really ought to be informed that there's a freaking Robot Girl running around Yakushima._

_Hell, maybe she even knows something about it. Gr… dammit, that's what I get for letting myself get to distracted worrying about Tsu-chan showing up… not that the worry wasn't justified._

_But hell! A robot, today of all days?!_

* * *

There were some advantages to spending so much of his time fighting eldritch creatures in the middle of the night, in an environment that was inherently tiring: Minato's stamina was a lot better than it once was. Akihiko, of course, was both a boxer and a long-time SEES member, but even Junpei kept up well, and he wasn't exactly much of an athlete outside of anti-Shadow operations.

Tsuruya, Minato wasn't prepared to consider anything impossible for.

So, by the time they caught up with the girl, all of them were at worst breathing a little hard. They had, however, been too focused on the chase to realize where it was taking them, and only noticed the enormous tree when they came to a halt.

_The Jomon cedar. How 'bout that._

Somewhat puzzlingly, the SEES girls weren't there, despite the note Fuuka had left them. All that was there was the really big tree, the sign giving information about it, and the blonde "girl" who was mostly hidden behind said sign.

The girl in question seemed to be waiting for them, and once she'd caught sight of Minato again she carefully edged out into view. Once again, she stared at him with eerily unblinking eyes, and he stared right back.

"Identity confirmed," she said after a moment, and stepped out fully. "I have found you."

He felt a chill run down his spine. "Found me?" he repeated. "You were… looking for me?" Minato got a nod in response. "…Why?"

"My highest priority is to be by your side," she announced.

"_What?!"_ Junpei's exclamation wasn't as loud as when he'd first seen Tsuruya, but Minato suspected from its hoarse quality that it was only because Junpei's throat was getting raw from all the shouting. "That's… that's…!"

"That's bizarre," Akihiko breathed, shaking his head. "What is going on here…?"

Tsuruya laughed, stepping up to Minato's side. "Well, well! I always knew you were good with the girls, Silver-kun, but it looks like you've outdone yourself today!"

_I'll say. If this keeps up, I'm gonna start feeling like the protagonist of an eroge. What's next, somebody sneaks into my bed?_

_**Ooh! That's a **_**brilliant**_** thought, Master!**_

_Oh, _do_ shut up. Please._

"There you are!" The voice from behind sounded exasperated, and entirely too familiar for the circumstances. "Honestly, where have you guys…! …Been…?"

The group turned almost as one to find Mitsuru, Yukari, and Fuuka coming up from a different fork of the trail. All of them wore Evokers, with Yukari carrying bow and quiver slung over her back, and Mitsuru bearing her rapier opposite her Evoker. They were, for whatever reason, loaded for bear.

Yukari had been the one to speak, and her expression started off as exasperated as her voice had been. Even as Minato watched, though, her face slid from annoyed to surprised, then to a strangely flat look, with narrowed eyes. Her hand even started twitching toward her bow.

It was about then that Minato realized just what the current scene looked like. Tsuruya was already close by his side, and the robot girl had edged closer to him when the other SEES members arrived. Neither Junpei nor Akihiko was close enough for either girl to seem associated with one of them.

With that flat, narrow stare, Yukari uttered an equally flat, "What."

…_Ohhh, hell. _Minato took in Yukari's dangerous calm, then spotted Mitsuru's expression. _Hellfire and hoarfrost. I'm dead._

Tsuruya very casually looked over the new arrivals, a small smile playing at her lips. "Friends of yours?" she asked.

"Fortunately," he said, sighing. _They _might_ give me a chance to explain myself. Y'know, for old times' sake._

"…Arisato," Mitsuru began, very slowly. "Right now, I'm afraid we have a situation to attend to, so your… friends… will have to excuse you for the moment. But I would like you to explain this at a later time. In detail."

_Or maybe they won't._

Salvation, thankfully, was at hand. Salvation in the form of a tan, pinstripe suit, long hair, and glasses with a disturbing tendency to shine, albeit not as disturbing as the puns frequently accompanying the visage.

"It's all right now, Mitsuru," Ikutsuki called out, walking sedately down the trail toward them. "The situation is contained."

"Mister Chairman," Mitsuru acknowledged, turning her attention away from the now-sweating Minato. "What about the combat vehicle? Has it already been located?"

"Not to worry," he assured her, and looked past toward Minato. "Aigis! Come now, you know you're not allowed to leave the lab by yourself."

_Not toward me. Toward the robot girl…_

Fuuka blinked. "Um…? You mean, that girl is…?"

"She's an anti-Shadow humanoid weapons system," Ikutsuki confirmed. "She was badly damaged ten years ago, and repairs never quite seemed to work… Y'know, maybe we should continue this conversation back at the house." He started to approach Aigis, then paused, looking curiously at Minato's _other_ companion. "Er. Minato, should we be talking about this in front of…?"

The SEES girls returned their attention to Tsuruya, with the attendant splash damage to Minato. "That's a good question," Mitsuru said evenly. "And you are…?"

"No worries!" the green-haired girl said brightly. "I'm an old friend of Minato-kun, and an associate of Master Johei's. I know about lots of this stuff already."

Mitsuru frowned, turning her gaze fully to the swordsman. Her glance was obviously interrogative, but he only turned his own curious look on Tsuruya. _"Master Johei"? That's a new one on me. Confirms she knows who I am, but what does that have to do with…?_

To general surprise, Ikutsuki nodded in apparent understanding. "Ah, I see. My apologies. In that case, would you care to accompany us, Miss…?"

"Tsuruya," she replied, grinning at the way Mitsuru's eyes suddenly widened. "Haruka Tsuruya. But nah, I'll pass for now. I'll just let you guys sort things out. See you tomorrow, Minato-kun!"

With a cheery wave, she wandered off down the trail again.

Yukari stared after her, then turned back to Minato and Aigis. "Okay, I give up. Will someone _please_ tell me what's going on here?"

* * *

Evening

* * *

_Well. At least this should be a _calmer_ meeting than last night._

Back in the parlor wherein they'd learned the truth about the "Incident", the group was mostly arranged the same way they had been then. This time, though, Takeharu Kirijo was busy elsewhere, with Ikutsuki taking his place.

"Sorry for all the confusion," he said now, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "There was a bit of a mix-up, but everything is under control now. It looks like we overreacted a little bit, that's all."

_About _what?_ I still don't know what the problem was in the first place._

Not that anyone seemed interested in enlightening Minato. Mitsuru and Yukari, he thought, were understandable in that regard; he suspected they were both still dubious about what he'd been doing with Tsuruya. Fuuka, though, came as something of a surprise.

_Or maybe they're just distracted,_ he conceded. _Even I didn't see _this_ one coming._

"So," Fuuka began, leaning forward in her seat, "the 'combat vehicle' was actually…?"

"That's right," Ikutsuki confirmed. "Come on in, Aigis."

Obediently, the "girl" from earlier stepped into the parlor, moving with mechanical precision. Without the blue dress she'd worn earlier, her nature was much more evident; in particular, the latticework that denoted her joints stood out quite visibly.

"This, as I said earlier, is Aigis," the Chairman said, nodding at the android. "You might say she's a 'mechanical maiden'. Probably the most impressive achievement the Kirijo Group has ever made, to be honest."

"Greetings," Aigis said, her voice as precise as her movements. "I am Aigis, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon 007. Effective immediately, I have been assigned to SEES."

Yukari stared at her in open wonder. "Wow," she breathed. "She's a little stilted, but… it's almost like she's actually alive."

Minato couldn't disagree. Visibly robotic or no, mechanical speech patterns or not, Aigis was well beyond any AI he'd ever heard of. It wasn't exactly his area, but everything he'd ever heard suggested that truly sapient artificial intelligence was either decades away yet, or outright impossible.

_It's more than a matter of programming, after all. You can't just encode a human mind; we're not built on logical lines ourselves. But then… there was that strange core…_

"It's unbelievable," Akihiko said, echoing Yukari. "I didn't think this was even possible."

Junpei sighed, hanging his head. "She's so cute… but she's a robot…"

_This just isn't your day, is it, Junpei? I wonder what _did_ happen during your little "Operation". Doesn't seem to have been very fun._

"Anti-Shadow weapons were created twelve years ago," Ikutsuki said, drawing attention back to him. "As insane as the likes of Kouetsu Kirijo may have been, they were still smart enough to make sure they had countermeasures if uncontrollable Shadows appeared." He grimaced, adjusting his glasses. "It was as well that they did. Aigis was the last to be made, and the only one to survive. Several others were destroyed in combat, and the rest when the explosion occurred. Aigis, too, suffered severe damage in the encounter; had she not been enhanced based on data from previous failures, she wouldn't be here today."

Mitsuru examined Aigis with open curiosity. "An anti-Shadow weapon," she murmured. "But the only way to fight Shadows is…"

"Yes," Aigis said, following the train of thought. "I am designed with Persona-use in mind, and am capable of summoning the Persona 'Palladian'."

_Palladian. A shield, also associated with Athena, I believe. …What's _with_ all the Greek?_

…_And how can a machine use Persona? No… I know. She's more than that. She has to be. There's something else at work here… and I'm not sure I like it._

"Wait a minute," Yukari said, frowning. "If she's been around all this time, why wasn't she deployed before? I mean, you've been recruiting every Persona user you could find, so if you already had one on hand… It couldn't have taken _that_ long to repair her, could it?"

"It didn't," Ikutsuki said with a nod. "In point of fact, I believe repairs were finished within a couple of months of the Incident. However, for reasons unknown, she wouldn't 'wake up' afterwards, so she's been on standby in the Yakushima lab ever since. In fact, we have no idea why she woke up _now."_ He shrugged helplessly. "But now she is awake, it's to our advantage, don't you think? I hope you all get along!"

_Well. Guess I'll have to slot that into the operational planning next time,_ Minato mused, as the others continued marveling over the android. _I'll need to get her specs somehow… Senpai can probably see about that._ An inward chuckle. _She didn't know about Aigis, either, so I don't think she'll be averse. I get the feeling she's starting to get a bit tired of being left out of the loop herself._

"Hey," Yukari said suddenly, leaning toward Aigis. "I almost forgot… Earlier, it sounded like you _knew_ Minato. What's up with that?"

_Y'know, that's a _very_ good question._

Aigis nodded without hesitation. "Yes, of course. It is my highest priority to be by Minato-san's side."

Yukari shot Minato a querulous look, but this time it was his turn to shrug. "Don't look at me," he protested. "My wild past is all about supernatural nasties, not robots. Being haunted would be one thing; John Connor I'm not."

She blinked. "…Who?"

"…Never mind."

Ikutsuki smiled, chuckling at the byplay. "I would wager that it's just a malfunction or glitch in her database," he opined. "After all, we don't even know why she took so long to 'wake up' in the first place. …Actually, maybe she's still just half-asleep!" He shook his head. "It's very interesting, actually, but I don't think it's anything you guys need to worry about. I'll do some digging when I have the chance. For now, I suggest you all remember that you're on vacation! Did you guys know that there's a tennis court here? And a pool table… Oh! There's even a karaoke machine." He grinned. "Would you care to hear me sing?"

_Hell, no,_ Minato thought at once, mentally expressing what he suspected was the general sentiment. _No offense, Mister Chairman, but your puns are bad enough._

"…That aside," Mitsuru said, clearing her throat, "there _is_ one matter I'd like to clear up before we all turn in for the night." She turned to look right at Minato. "Arisato. Was that girl who I think it was?"

Suddenly _all_ eyes were on the blue-haired swordsman, and he winced internally. Yukari, in particular, was giving a good impression of a basilisk, and Junpei's intense look by rights should've set him on fire.

"Yes, Senpai," he said, forcing his voice to remain level. "That was Tsu-chan, my old club president."

"Club president?" Yukari repeated sharply. "You never said anything about a girl like that!"

"I told you the club I was in at my last school was a little crazy sometimes," Minato reminded her. "Haruka Tsuruya is pretty much that craziness personified. Rappelling down Tartarus? Sneaking around the school in the dead of night? Enough said, I'd think."

Yukari plainly didn't agree with that, but she didn't get a chance to riposte. "You never said anything about her coming to Yakushima," Mitsuru noted, eyes narrow. "And we _did_ talk about her last night, as I recall."

Minato shrugged uneasily. "To be honest, I was kind of hoping she'd never run into you guys," he admitted, looking away. "Tsu-chan can be a little… Um. Well, let's say she has an interesting sense of humor. I didn't really want to know how that would play out with any of you around."

To his considerable relief, after a moment's consideration his Senpai seemed to accept that. Giving a slow nod -and what looked suspiciously like a small smile- she leaned back in her seat, apparently satisfied. Yukari, to be sure, looked like she wanted to continue the discussion, but seemed to be having trouble thinking of her next question. Fuuka, fortunately, didn't seem very concerned in the first place, and apparently the time since had let Akihiko settle down; he merely smirked.

_Might just have dodged the bullet there. Senpai was the one I was really worried about -I _know_ how scary she can be when she's mad- and if she's willing to take it so calmly…_

"That's not _all_ he didn't mention," Junpei said suddenly, glaring full-force. "I dunno what Minato told you about that 'Tsuruya' girl, Senpai, but I'll bet he didn't say anything to you about the 'ex-girlfriend' part!"

…_And a torpedo called "Junpei Iori" strikes the good ship _Sanity_ directly amidships. Damnation and hellfire._

Fuuka gasped, Yukari's eyes took on a quality remarkably akin to lasers, and Mitsuru… Mitsuru's expression was suddenly difficult to define. Minato actually rather thought _she_ didn't know quite how to feel about that revelation, except that she didn't seem to like it.

_Fang-tan,_ Minato promised himself, _you are going to pay for that. I _know_ you did that on purpose._

"Y'know, Minato," Junpei continued, still glaring, "for someone who's always gettin' on my case for talkin' about girls… _And_ what you keep hinting about what happened…"

_Okay. You know what? I've had enough._

"Junpei," Minato said sharply, eyes narrowing, "did you _really_ think all my past was blood and guts and bullets? Yes. I _have_ had a dating life. Even I have had happy moments. Having had a relationship that was actually normal does not preclude me being annoyed at the way _you_ talk about them, okay?"

"…He's got a point," Akihiko admitted, looking thoughtful. "And the 'Operation' was _your_ idea, Junpei, not mine."

"Forget about the damned 'Operation'!" Junpei snapped; Minato suspected his heat and haste were both due to the looks the girls were now giving _him._ "Fine! So he's had a normal girlfriend! What about the _rest_ of it, huh?" He snapped his glare back to his 'leader'. "Or did you think I didn't get _exactly_ what she was implying? Minato, did the two of you _actually_-"

"That," Minato interrupted, returning the other's glare, "is _none_ of your business, Junpei."

Mitsuru looked from one irritated face to the other, her own eyes narrow. Then, finally, she turned to Akihiko. "Would _you_ care to enlighten me as to what they're talking about, Akihiko?"

From the look on the boxer's face, Minato suspected the answer was "Not really". Smart of him, probably, given that he was pretty clearly outmatched in arguments like this… on top of being visibly terrified of Mitsuru's temper.

That temper, alas, was probably the deciding factor, though he tried to at least hedge it. "Tsuruya-san just, ah, made some implications about how 'far' she'd gone with our Detective," Akihiko said, swallowing. "Mind you, considering how little luck Junpei actually had today, I don't think that necessarily means anything…"

_I think the only reason Yukari isn't blasting my ears out right now is basically she doesn't quite know which expletives to use,_ Minato thought uneasily. _Not sure what business it is of hers, or any of theirs, what I might or might not have done in my own bedroom months before I met any of them, but…_

_And what the hell is with that look Senpai is wearing?_

_**Ooh, I know, Master! It's simple, really, she's just j-**_

_Shut up, lecherous figment of my subconscious. Contrary to what you may think, I am _not_ the protagonist of a harem eroge._

"Arisato," Mitsuru said, very slowly. "Is there anything you'd care to add to the discussion?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Yes, actually, there is. I'd like to add… that I'm going to bed. And barring the door. With a tripwire connected to a landmine."

It would never do to say that Minato Arisato, field leader of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, swordsman who fought atop moving trains and rappelled down eldritch towers, fled in fright. Nay, he quite bravely made a tactical retreat, exercising the age-old tactic of "living to fight another day".

* * *

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009, Daytime

* * *

Somehow, Minato had managed to survive the night. He'd slept with his Evoker under his pillow, and while he hadn't _actually_ connected a mine to his door, he had used just about every other precaution his grandfather had ever taught him on both the door and the windows. If anyone had come for him in the night, he'd been fully prepared to escape via the window and make his way to the docks.

From there, he wasn't sure exactly how he'd have made good his departure, but there were ways. If nothing else, he could probably have enlisted Tsuruya's aid, however much additional trouble that might've caused in the long run.

The night had, thankfully, been peaceful, and Minato lived to see the beach once more. Tempers had evidently cooled since the previous evening, and while Fuuka seemed to be the only member of the team willing to actually approach him, no one was outright glaring at him, either.

_Not actively, anyway. Still kind of afraid to look in Senpai's direction just now._

The equilibrium of the situation was, of course, rendered somewhat unstable by one unpredictable element. Tsuruya had, indeed, shown up again, though for the moment she seemed content to remain on the sidelines. Mentally kibitzing, if Minato knew her, and watching carefully for something to laugh about.

Much closer to the water than Minato stood right now, Junpei sat on the sand with a melancholy look on his face. "Can't believe it's already day three of the trip," he said with a sigh. "We gotta leave tomorrow, huh… I could stay here for months. Hell, I wouldn't mind living here." He glanced around, taking in the sight of the rest of the team scattered about the beach. Or at least, the female half. "Well, it ain't like the trip wasn't worth it. Saw some cool things here, didn't we, guys?"

"I guess," Akihiko replied dubiously, stretching in preparation for a swim. "I mean, sure, we've had some fun, but it's been kind of crazy, too."

"Sometimes crazy's good, Senpai," Junpei told him, coming to his feet with the start of a grin. "I mean, we even got a new member! Isn't that awesome?"

As if summoned by his words, Aigis wandered over. She once again wore her blue dress -Minato assumed to avoid freaking out the regular beachgoers- and though she still maintained her odd insistence on Minato being her "priority", so far she'd kept her distance today.

_Thank heavens for small favors. It's been okay so far, but I don't like the potential implications of an obsessed robot. I _don't_ need a bodyguard. Or a maid, or whatever it means to the "highest priority" of a combat android._

"Do we have a mission at the beach today?" Aigis asked now, attention focused on the Man in the Hat.

Junpei's grin widened. He, at least, clearly had no reservations about their new comrade. "A mission? Nah, we're on vacation, Aigis! Missions are for back in Port Island. All we're here to do today is have some fun!"

Fuuka came up by Aigis' side. "Do you understand the meaning of 'fun', Aigis?" she asked curiously.

_Ah. The age-old question: Do androids dream of electric sheep?_

Aigis nodded. "Of course," she said, in her usual monotone. "Recreation is necessary for the refreshment of the mind and body."

_Hm. Answer so far seems to be: They understand the concept, but don't necessarily grasp it in the "gut". Still better than I might've expected._

_What _is_ she, really?_

Junpei looked surprised, but his grin returned quickly. "Awright, Aigis! Guess you know more about how humans think than I thought!" He stretched, clumsily mimicking Akihiko's earlier motions. "Okay, guys! One more swim before we go! Everybody _in!"_

He rushed off for the water-followed closely by Aigis, who seemed to take the enthusiastic exclamation for an order.

Fuuka blinked. "Um, Junpei-kun!" she called. "Are you sure that's safe for her?"

There was no answer, which didn't surprise Minato particularly. At the rate Junpei was going, he was probably already out of earshot, or at least getting his ears too full of water. _Typical. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be caught in a riptide…_

Yukari joined Fuuka by the water's edge, and shook her head in exasperation. "I doubt Junpei's thought about it at all," she said. "But… I'm sure Aigis is waterproof. She wouldn't have followed him if she thought it was a problem." Then, in a mutter Minato only barely heard from his position, "Stupei, on the other hand, probably _is_ getting his brain rusty…"

* * *

It was paradoxical, Mitsuru thought, that she actually did feel refreshed and relaxed. Day one of the Yakushima trip had settled her discomfort with Arisato, and later opened things up between them, but in between had come the shattering discussion of the Incident. Day two had featured the chaos surrounding Aigis, and the unexpected appearance of Arisato's old "club president", with addition attendant chaos.

Despite it all, Mitsuru really was feeling the kind of ease she'd come to Yakushima hoping to find. There was some lingering tension in her from the previous day, but otherwise… she felt pretty good, all in all.

She still wasn't sure why she'd reacted so strongly to the implications Iori had brought up, though. What Arisato did on his own time wasn't really any of her business, so long as it didn't occur in the dorm proper. For that matter, anything he might or might not have done with the Tsuruya girl had occurred several months before Mitsuru had even met him. By any measure, there was no reason at all for her to be concerned.

_Maybe I just find it out of character for him,_ she reasoned, settling back into her beach chair. _It's a side of him I haven't seen, after all. That it resonates with our… encounter during Tanabata probably doesn't help._ She nodded to herself. _Yes, that's probably exactly it. It just brought up uncomfortable memories, that's all._

No reason to pay it any mind, really. Especially since Tsuruya had specified she was Arisato's _ex_-girlfriend, so…

Right. Enough of that.

From what she could see, in her shaded position well back from the water, the rest of SEES was similarly relaxed. Takeba had more or less fully recovered, from what she tell, or at least as fully as she ever was. Akihiko, despite whatever had gone on with _him_ at the beach the previous day -he had refused to give her details, other than to say that it had been Iori's idea- was his usual self. Yamagishi likewise, though that wasn't terribly surprising; Mitsuru had observed that the tech-savvy girl's mood usually reflected that of the team as a whole.

Iori, of course, was irrepressible. His outrage over Arisato had mellowed with sleep, and now seemed to manifest only in that he was totally ignoring the field leader. Right now he was cavorting about in the water, trying to drag Takeba and Yamagishi into things. Somewhat to Mitsuru's amusement, Aigis _was_ playing along, albeit awkwardly.

_I'll have to do some digging about her,_ she mused, taking a sip of the drink she'd brought with her. _I didn't know about the anti-Shadow weapons at all… and since Father didn't mention them, either, I have to wonder how much even _he_ knows. I should probably ask him. And if he really doesn't know… Maybe I should set Yamagishi and Arisato on it. Between the two of them, they could probably dig up quite a bit._

It was sobering to realize that the Kirijo Group had depths even she didn't know about, and which even her _father_ seemed less than certain of. All her life, Mitsuru had known the Group was far from pure as the driven snow; leaving aside their "ordinary" less-than-legal activities, the kind used merely for obtaining funds, she knew firsthand what some of their less scrupulous researchers were capable of. Even so, she'd never guessed just how much really was going on beneath the surface.

So far, there hadn't been any revelations more recent than the Incident, but she found herself concerned that there really were things that had lasted longer than that. _Probably_ nothing still active, but she wanted to know for sure.

Fortunately, Mitsuru had both Yamagishi and Arisato on hand, and both of them had demonstrated a willingness to bend the rules in pursuit of the truth. If she could get her father on board with an "unofficial" investigation…

She wasn't sure what alerted her that someone was approaching. The intruder was very quiet, and approached in such a way as to not cast a betraying shadow, but she knew anyway; perhaps some facet of Penthesilea's abilities, however meager they were in that regard. Either way, before any tangible sign had appeared Mitsuru was already looking up and to her right.

Wearing the same -wholly inadequate, in Mitsuru's opinion- green swimsuit as yesterday, there was no mistaking the long emerald hair, or the mischievous expression. Even having only seen her for a couple of minutes, Mitsuru had no trouble at all believing everything Arisato had said of the girl; the grin said it all.

"Now I see why Arisato calls you 'Fang-tan'," she heard herself say, as Tsuruya approached. Not, admittedly, the most inspired greeting ever, but it really was the first thing Mitsuru noticed.

Tsuruya grinned, showing off the fang in question. "Yep, that's why! Fair's fair, though. I call him 'Silver-kun', nyoro." She unceremoniously dropped down on the sand by Mitsuru's chair. "So! You're Minato-kun's new boss, ne?"

"_Nyoro"?_ "I am the club president, yes," Mitsuru said, nodding cautiously. "Arisato handles things in the field, though… which I assume you already know."

"Minato-kun's told me a lot," the other girl confirmed. "Don't worry, though, I already knew about some of it. And it's not like I don't have secrets _I_ don't want normal people to know!"

Actually, Mitsuru wasn't really worried about the girl's discretion. To begin with, she trusted Arisato's judgment. Moreover, she could tell for herself that however ditzy Tsuruya might choose to appear, there was a very sharp brain in there.

"He's mentioned a little about you, too," she noted, eyes narrow. "Something about you being a 'witch', I believe."

Tsuruya laughed. "Well, I had to tell him _something_ back then. He didn't buy the 'shrine maiden' excuse."

Mitsuru eyed Tsuruya's idea of "proper swimwear". "I wonder why."

Another, louder laugh. "Yeah, it wasn't the most believable excuse I ever made. But 'witch' is pretty close to true. Technically, it's 'magus', but I'm pretty good with witchcraft."

_Only Arisato would so casually associate with someone who calls _herself_ a witch, with the powers to back it up. But what's a magus?_

Tsuruya waved a hand in apparent dismissal. "Ah, don't worry about that stuff. Minato-kun will have to eventually, but right now it's not really important, is it?"

"…I suppose not," Mitsuru agreed, though she wasn't really sure she believed it. "Beyond the fact that you're the reason he adjusted so well to SEES, anyway. I have to admit, I'm not sure how much to believe of his stories about his time in your club. Even by my standards, they're a little far-fetched, and I happen to know Arisato likes to tell tall tales."

"Oh, the ones about the Irregulars are probably all true," Tsuruya said at once, grinning. "He was pretty good, for somebody whose powers weren't working right. Couldn't even lit a candle without a match, but he could see stuff normals couldn't, and, well, you'll have seen yourself what he can do with a sword."

_You knew he had "powers"? _"You knew he had the potential?" Mitsuru said, eyebrows going up.

"Nope!" the other said cheerfully. "Don't know much about Persona, actually. But with _his_ pedigree? _Something_ was bound to turn up. Only thing is, I'm not supposed to say much until… Well. Let's say he's got hidden depths, and until he knows about 'em I gotta watch my mouth."

_I'm starting to see where he gets his secretiveness from._ "So," Mitsuru began, changing tack, "the 'Ship in a Bottle' he mentioned happened, as well?"

Tsuruya grinned again, the look in her eyes suggesting she caught what Mitsuru was talking about. "Mentioned _that_ one, did he? But he didn't tell you how it started, or how it ended, I'll bet. Poor Minato-kun gets flustered any time somebody starts to talk about that."

She'd noticed. "I take it there's a reason for that, then."

A mock-solemn nod. "Silver-kun wouldn't forgive me if I gave you the details, but let's say magecraft oriented around spatial compression is… tricky. Especially if you're affected by a part that's designed around organics, and you're wearing synthetic fabric."

Mitsuru had just been starting to take another sip. The implications of _that_ statement made her choke on her drink, leading straight into a coughing fit, accompanied by an outburst of wild laughter from Tsuruya.

It was probably a good thing that they were well away from the rest of the group. It took a little while for Mitsuru to be able to breathe properly again, during which Tsuruya kept right on laughing, and once she _had_ recovered she was fairly sure her face would make a satisfactory nightlight. All in all, _not_ something she wanted the others knowing about.

"Yep," Tsuruya said, when it looked like Mitsuru was going to pull through. "Minato-kun doesn't like to talk about that stuff. Or how we… celebrated the bad guy's defeat." The grin on seeing Mitsuru's reaction to _that_ was a very knowing one.

_She… he… they… __**What?!**_

The green-haired girl sobered. "You gots nothing to worry about, Kirijo-san," she said, using Mitsuru's name for the first time. "Like I told the guy with the goatee, Minato-kun and I are old news. He's still one of the best friends I've got, but… Well, I was never _quite_ what he really needed for a long-term relationship."

Mitsuru blinked, then shook her head. "Tsuruya-san, I'm not-"

Tsuruya ignored the interjection. "Kirijo-san," she said seriously, "Minato-kun has come a long way from when I found him, but he's not quite back to himself yet. You ever hear him talk about anyone from the Irregulars besides me?"

Thrown by the mood whiplash, it took Mitsuru a moment to compose an answer to that. "Now that you mention it… no, I don't believe I have."

"Thought so. 'Specially when he kept calling the rest of your gang his 'teammates'." Tsuruya sighed. "Not many people he calls 'friend', Kirijo-san. Nothing wrong with being a loner, but Minato-kun… He's got problems trusting people, still. Good reasons for that, good reasons to _keep_ being careful, but he still needs to learn to think of his 'teammates' as friendship material. Not all of 'em, maybe, but more than he usually does."

_That… reminds me an awful lot of what Father was saying to _me._ It hadn't occurred to me that Arisato might have the same problem. He interacts so well with the rest of SEES… but then, he really _doesn't_ talk about himself at all, does he?_

"I think he's making progress here, though," Tsuruya went on, gaze turning to where Arisato was now talking with Yamagishi; from what little could be heard at this distance, it seemed to be about Aigis, or at least her physical nature. "Looks like maybe he was right to go back to Port Island." She smiled. "You got yourself a good 'field leader', Kirijo-san. You're ever in a pinch, he won't let you down."

"…I think so, too," Mitsuru admitted quietly. "He doesn't talk about himself, and he still has some friction with Iori, but there's no question of whether he'll back up any of us in a fight."

"Silver-kun's like that." A sad look crossed Tsuruya's face. "Still hasn't forgiven himself for what happened back then, I guess… He's not gonna let something like that happen again." She stood then, and brushed sand off her legs. "You guys are going back to Port Island tomorrow, right?"

"That's the plan, yes," Mitsuru confirmed, again thrown by the change of topic.

"Then I guess I'll be seeing you guys some other time." Tsuruya flashed one more grin. "Minato-kun's a good guy, Kirijo-san. If everything else fails, trust him to have your back." She turned, and began to walk away. "I leave him to you, Kirijo-san. Take care of him for me, will ya?"

Before Mitsuru could think up a reply to that, Tsuruya sashayed down the beach, around a rock, and out of sight.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

And so concludes the obligatory Beach Episode… which, I must admit, wound up a _lot_ different from what I'd expected. I'd always planned on Minato sitting out "Operation Babe Hunt" -on top of personally hating that event, I didn't think this interpretation of Minato would possibly agree to participate- but I did not expect it to make a left turn into Harem Comedy after all.

I personally think the results were decent, but I sure didn't expect it.

Something I feel I should address now, given the chapter's heavy departure from the "normal" world of the story. For all that it makes much reference to a probably-recognizable other series, its inclusion here is more in the way of setup for later material than anything else. It's important to Minato's backstory and to future plans I have for the setting I'm establishing, but it will _not_ be taking over _Defiance_ proper.

So no, in case anyone's worried, Minato is not going to suddenly start flinging around spells with German incantations or hobnobbing with legends. Not during the events of _Persona 3_ proper, at any rate. This is setting the stage for the future; my original goal of making _this_ story true to the general spirit of the original game remains.

That said…. Actually, I guess that's about all I _do_ need to say, at the moment. Oh, actually, one other thing: I forgot to mention this in the notes for last chapter, but I give full credit for the choice of a first name for Tsuruya to the late Durandall, author of _Kyon: Big Damn Hero._ May he rest in peace.

So. Next chapter returns to our regularly scheduled Port Island adventures. Got my next set of twists lined up already; hopefully they'll serve to spice things up 'till the next Full Moon Shadow (which, in case anyone's wondering, is currently estimated to show up in Chapter XIV). Till then, let me know if this was hilarious, okay, or somehow totally horrible. -Solid


End file.
